A Bold Father of Science Fiction

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A Bold Father of Science Fiction
February 9, 2011
Simply Robert

Today’s Google Doodle reminded me that February 8 is, in fact, the birthday of one Jules Verne, author of such imaginative works as Around the Worldin Eighty Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea. He is, along with Hugo Gernsback and H.G. Wells, one of the true pioneers of speculative fiction, and he was a master of the form. Not only was Verne surprisingly prescient in some of his creations (see electric submarines, solar sails, tasers, and videoconferencing to name a few), but he was also willing to take a risk in his fiction. This, I believe, is a fundamental element that makes Verne such a master of his genre.

Writers and consumers of science fiction draw a sharp distinction between science fiction and fantasy. Science fiction is speculative by nature and well-grounded in known scientific principles whereas fantasy takes a leap from reality into realms of impossibility. Many see the distinction of fantasy verses science fiction as the setting – orcs and dragons versus aliens and spaceships – but nothing could be further from the truth. Strictly speaking, Isaac Asimov’s Foundation novels would firmly reside within the confines of science fiction. Frank Herbert’s Dune series is fantasy. If you need more popular examples, Star Wars is fantasy where Star Trek is science fiction.

The snare of science fiction, though, is one of being too conservative. Take too large of a leap, and you’ll be categorized as fantastical, but look to Jules Verne as an example. In 1865, he wrote about a group of Americans trying to get to the moon – even attempting to formulate calculations involved with launching an object from Earth’s surface into space, almost half a century before the Wright brothers would get their gliders into the air.

“Suffer me to finish,” he calmly continued. “I have looked at the question in all its bearings, I have resolutely attacked it, and by incontrovertible calculations I find that a projectile endowed with an initial velocity of 12,000 yards per second, and aimed at the moon, must necessarily reach it. I have the honor, my brave colleagues, to propose a trial of this little experiment.”

- From the Earth to the Moon – Chapter II

He wrote of video conferencing when the telephone was still a fledgling invention, when telegraph was still the most popular form of long-distance communication, and long before anyone would dream of Skype or FaceTime.

The first thing Mr. Smith does is activate his phonotelephote, the wires of which communicate with his Paris mansion. The telephote! Here is another great triumph of modern science. The transmission of speech is an old story; the transmission of images by means of sensitive mirrors connected by wires is a thing but of yesterday. A valuable invention indeed; Mr. Smith this morning is full of blessings for the inventor, when by its aid he is able distinctly to see his wife despite her great distance.

- “In the Year 2889,” perhaps largely by his son

He had characters traveling deep within our planet’s crust long before geologists had the means to know what our world was comprised of, and he wasn’t afraid of creating a fantastical set of discoveries for his intrepid adventurers to make.

I soon felt that strange and mysterious sensation which is awakened in the mind when looking down from lofty hilltops, and now I was able to do so without any feeling of nervousness, having fortunately hardened myself to that kind of sublime contemplation. I wholly forgot who I was, and where I was. I became intoxicated with a sense of lofty sublimity, without thought of the abysses into which my daring was soon about to plunge me.

- Journey to the Center of the Earth – Chapter XVI

Sometimes, his visions were eerily accurate. Other times, he was completely wrong, but he was willing to take a risk. That is Jules Verne’s greatest lesson to the modern writer – be willing to stretch reality. Be willing to take a risk. Be willing to take your reader somewhere new and unexpected, even if the scientific ground upon which you build your fiction is shaky and uncertain. You may not always be right, but, like Jules Verne, you may be memorable.

The sea is the be all and end all! It covers seven–tenths of the planet earth. Its breath is clean and healthy. It’s an immense wilderness where a man is never lonely, because he feels life astir on every side…Ah, sir, live! Live in the heart of the seas! Here alone lies independence! Here I recognize no superiors! Here I’m free!”

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea – Chapter X