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by Jules Verne
It's been some time since the end of the American Civil War. The Gun Club, a society based in support an idea that a cannon can shoot a projectile so that it reaches the moon. After receiving the support, a few of members meet to decide the place from where the projectile will be shot, the dimensions and makings of both the cannon and the projectile, and which kind of powder are they to use. An old enemy of Barbicane, a Captain Nicholl of Philadelphia, designer of plate armor, declares that the enterprise is absurd and makes a series of bets with Barbicane, each of them of increasing amount over the impossibility of such feat. The first obstacle, the money, and over which Nicholl has bet 1000 dollars, is raised from most countries in America and Europe, in which the mission reaches variable success (while the USA gives 4 million dollars, England doesn't give a farthing, being envious of the United States in matters of science), but in the end nearly five and a half million dollars are raised, which ensures the financial feasibility of the project. After deciding the place for the launch (Stone's Hill in “Tampa Town,” Florida; predating Kennedy Space Center’s placement by almost 100 years; Verne gives the exact position as 27°7' northern latitude and 5°7' western longtitude, of course relative to the meridian of Washington, DC. The Gun Club travels there and starts the construction of the Columbiad cannon. In the end, the projectile is successfully launched, but the destinies of the three astronauts are left inconclusive. The sequel starting in the middle of the book, “Around the Moon”, deals with what happens to the three men in their travel from the Earth to the Moon.
By the same author, or from the same shelves — different every visit.
