From the Earth to the Moon

Summary

From the Earth to the Moon is Verne's comic and scientific story of the first attempt to send men to the moon, published here with its sequel Round the Moon. After the American Civil War, the Gun Club of Baltimore, a society of artillerymen who have lost limbs but not enthusiasm, is bored by peace. Its president, Impey Barbicane, proposes a grand project: to fire a cannonball to the moon. The Cambridge Observatory supplies the figures; a giant cannon, the Columbiad, is cast in a deep well at Stones Hill in Florida; and money pours in from around the world. Barbicane's rival, Captain Nicholl, who makes armor plate, bets that it cannot be done. Then a telegram changes everything: a daring Frenchman, Michel Ardan, asks to travel inside the projectile. At a great public meeting Ardan charms the crowd, and when Nicholl challenges Barbicane to a duel, Ardan reconciles the two enemies, and all three agree to go together. The first book ends with the shot and a telescope sighting of the projectile in orbit. Round the Moon follows the travellers inside the aluminium capsule. They suffer the shock of launch, discover weightlessness, eat and joke, and calculate their course. A passing meteor deflects them, so they do not land but circle the moon, glimpsing its dark side in the light of a flare and studying its craters. Firing rockets to change course, they fall back toward the earth and splash into the Pacific, where an American naval ship finds them floating, playing dominoes. Verne treats rocketry with real enthusiasm, using careful calculations for speed and distance, though a cannon launch would in fact kill the passengers. Readers since have noticed striking parallels with the Apollo missions a century later, including a Florida launch, a crew of three and a Pacific splashdown. The books also satirize American love of size, guns and publicity, while celebrating courage, friendship and curiosity.

Plot or Argument

• From the Earth: The Gun Club

  Barbicane proposes firing a projectile to the moon; the Cambridge Observatory supplies the figures, and the world raises funds.

• From the Earth: The Columbiad

  The great cannon is cast in Florida; Michel Ardan volunteers to fly, reconciles Barbicane and Nicholl, and the three are launched.

• Round the Moon: The voyage

  Inside the capsule the travellers experience launch, weightlessness and a meteor that deflects them into orbit around the moon.

• Round the Moon: The return

  After studying the moon's surface, they fall back to earth and splash down in the Pacific, where they are rescued.

Characters

• Impey Barbicane, president of the Gun Club

  Cool, determined American engineer who conceives the project.

• Captain Nicholl, rival

  Armor-plate maker who bets against the project, then joins it.

• Michel Ardan, volunteer

  Lively Frenchman whose courage and humor unite the crew.

• J. T. Maston, secretary

  Enthusiastic Gun Club member with a hook for a hand.

Lessons

• Daring and calculation

  The project succeeds because enthusiasm is joined to careful mathematics.

  • What figures does the Cambridge Observatory supply?
  • Where does Verne's science go wrong?

• Reconciling enemies

  Ardan turns two rivals into crewmates by appealing to a shared goal.

  • How does Ardan stop the duel?
  • What makes reconciliation possible?

• Satire and admiration

  Verne both mocks and admires American boldness, boasting and ingenuity.

  • Which details are funny?
  • What does Verne admire about the Gun Club?

Context

Written in the age of new artillery after the American Civil War, the novel joins Verne's scientific curiosity with satire of American enthusiasm.

Composition

De la Terre à la Lune was serialized in 1865 in the Journal des débats; its sequel Autour de la Lune followed in 1869. The Mercier and King translation of both appeared in 1873.

Reception

Inspired later rocket pioneers such as Tsiolkovsky and Goddard, and was remembered when Apollo 8 orbited the moon in 1968.

Comparisons

• The First Men in the Moon

  Wells's moon voyage uses an antigravity metal instead of a cannon.

• Journey to the Center of the Earth

  Verne's earlier scientific journey, downward instead of upward.

• Around the World in Eighty Days

  Another Verne journey driven by a wager.

Quotes

For Students

A reading companion for classical Christian high school students. See the student guide.

Reading Guide

Watch for

• How the Gun Club plans the project.
• Ardan's role in uniting the crew.
• The scientific explanations inside the capsule.
• Parallels with the real Apollo missions.

Key terms and names

Columbiad

The giant cannon used to launch the projectile.

Projectile

The aluminium capsule carrying the travellers.

Weightlessness

The feeling of floating in space, described in Round the Moon.

Gun Club

Baltimore society of artillerymen.

Seminar Questions

1. Comprehension Why does the Gun Club want to send a projectile to the moon?
2. Comprehension How do the travellers return to Earth?
3. Interpretation What is Verne satirizing in the Gun Club?
4. Interpretation How does Ardan change the story?
5. Interpretation Why might Verne have decided they would not land?
6. Big Question Should humanity explore space, and why?

Faith Connections

• Psalm 8:3-4 (Scripture)

  When I consider thy heavens, what is man? The travellers' wonder at the heavens recalls the psalmist's.

• Matthew 5:9 (Scripture)

  Blessed are the peacemakers; Ardan reconciles Barbicane and Nicholl.

Logic and Rhetoric

Central argument: Human daring joined to calculation can achieve what seems impossible, though pride and showmanship must be checked by humility.

Rhetorical device: satire. Verne mocks the Gun Club's love of size and noise while admiring their energy.

Debate: Resolved: that Verne's travellers were heroes rather than fools.

Writing Prompts

Essay: Explain why Verne's moon voyage feels both comic and serious.

Comparison with The First Men in the Moon: Compare the science and the purpose of Verne's and Wells's moon voyages.

Medical Lens

The novel discusses the effects of launch shock and weightlessness on the body, though its science is speculative.

• Round the Moon, Ch. 1

  Travellers are knocked unconscious by the launch.

  Physicians Doctors

Creative Prompts

• Fiction

  Write Ardan's speech at the great meeting.

• Essay

  Compare Verne's moon voyage with the Apollo missions.

• Classroom

  Calculate the distance to the moon and the speed of the projectile using Verne's figures.

Further Reading

• The First Men in the Moon, H. G. Wells

  A different imagined moon voyage.