Jules Vernes Classic Collection: 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea, A Journey to the Center of the Earth, Around the World in 80 Days, From the Earth to the Moon and Around the Moon

Jules Verne (1828-1905) is one of the most recognizable names in Western literature, coming to be known as one of the Fathers of Science-Fiction. Although he studied to be a lawyer and held stock trading jobs, he quickly learned that he had a knack for weaving adventurous stories of travels and expeditions. It didnt hurt that one of his teachers may have been inventor Brutus de Villeroi, who created the first submarine for the U.S. Navy. Verne wrote about air travel and space travel 50 years before either was possible. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea is a story about the expedition of the Nautilus, captained by Captain Nemo and told from the perspective of Professor Pierre Aronnax. Like Melvilles Moby Dick, the story is ostensibly about an expedition chasing down a large sea creature, but there are metaphors throughout the book that are meant to symbolize society and civilization. A Journey to the Center of the Earth involves a German Professor Von Hardwigg, who believes there are volcanic tubes going toward the center of the Earth. He, his nephew Harry, and their guide Hans encounter many adventures on the journey, including prehistoric animals and natural hazards. One of Verne's main ideas with his stories was also to educate readers as to the different kinds of extinct creatures throughout different geological ages, from ice ages to dinosaurs.Around the World in 80 Days is a classic adventure novel about Phileas Fogg, who heads out on an expedition with his valet Passepartout in an attempt to circumnavigate the world in 80 days, based on a large wager made by his friends at the Reform Club.From the Earth to the Moon and its sequel Around the Moon tell the story of the president of a post-American Civil War gun club in Baltimore, his rival, a Philadelphia maker of armor, and a Frenchman, who build an enormous sky-facing Columbiad space gun and launch themselves in a spacecraft toward the Moon. The sequel discusses the dangerous adventure from the Moon and the difficulties in getting back to Earth alive. Vernes story is told in a humorous style, but as he did with his other works, he peppers in a lot of science and math. Written nearly 100 years before Apollo 11 landed on the Moon, one of the interesting aspects of his books is comparing and contrasting the books to actual space travel. Some of Vernes math was very realistic, as were his descriptions of orbit and gravity.This edition of Vernes classics is specially formatted with a Table of Contents and dozens of images for each work, including pictures of places that Vernes characters travel to throughout the books.