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Author
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Topic: Jules Verne, science fiction author, pioneer
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icarkie
Member Posts: 616
From: BURTON ON TRENT /England
Registered: Nov 2002
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posted 02-08-2011 11:40 AM
   
Happy Birthday (183rd) to one of my favourite authors, Jules Verne. Writer of many classics... |
randy
Member Posts: 1258
From: West Jordan, Utah USA
Registered: Dec 1999
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posted 02-08-2011 12:58 PM
A true visionary. |
Prospero
Member Posts: 90
From: Manchester, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 02-08-2011 05:59 PM
Just for a moment, when I saw his name in the title of this thread, I thought you were announcing that M. Verne had died. What a relief, it's just his birthday.
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Blackarrow
Member Posts: 1972
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 02-08-2011 06:04 PM
For the benefit of anyone unfamiliar with the works of M. Verne, he wrote of the first voyage to the Moon, which commenced with a launch from Florida and a splashdown in the Pacific Ocean. Oh, and the cannon which launched the spacecraft was called the Columbiad. |
moorouge
Member Posts: 1441
From: U.K.
Registered: Jul 2009
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posted 02-09-2011 02:28 AM
quote:
Originally posted by Blackarrow:
Oh, and the cannon which launched the spacecraft was called the Columbiad.
The other way round surely? |
ColinBurgess
Member Posts: 1539
From: Sydney, Australia
Registered: Sep 2003
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posted 02-09-2011 02:38 AM
Three moon voyagers on board Columbiad; one named Ardan. Columbia and Columbiad both recovered by U.S. Navy vessels. |
Blackarrow
Member Posts: 1972
From: Belfast, United Kingdom
Registered: Feb 2002
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posted 02-09-2011 07:33 PM
"Columbiad" was DEFINITELY the name of the cannon which launched the manned projectile. |
Robert Pearlman
Editor Posts: 26581
From: Houston, TX
Registered: Nov 1999
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posted 02-09-2011 07:47 PM
Verne didn't name the cannon Columbiad; rather that was what such cannons were called. To quote Wikipedia: The Columbiad was a large caliber, smoothbore, muzzle loading cannon able to fire heavy projectiles at both high and low trajectories. This feature enabled the columbiad to fire solid shot or shell to long ranges, making it an excellent seacoast defense weapon for its day. Invented by Colonel George Bomford, United States Army, in 1811, columbiads were used by the United States coastal artillery from the War of 1812 until the early years of the 20th Century. Verne wrote De la Terre à la Lune (From the Earth to the Moon) more than 50 years after the invention of the columbiad. |
Prospero
Member Posts: 90
From: Manchester, UK
Registered: Mar 2006
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posted 02-10-2011 08:18 PM
The cannon was a Columbiad. The vehicle that the heroes actually travelled to the Moon and back in was simply referred to as "the projectile".
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