Tuesday, June 2, 2015

Jules Verne, lunar visionary

Rock star economist Tyler Cowen is also a voracious reader whose interests run well beyond his fields of study. From his blog, Marginal Revolution:


*From the Earth to the Moon*

by  on June 2, 2015 at 8:04 am in BooksHistoryScience | Permalink
I read this 1865 Jules Verne book lately and very much enjoyed it.  It’s a poke at scientific rationalists and project-happy obsessives, and humorous throughout.  It mocks those who wish to bet on ideas, compares the American and French versions of excess grandiosity, and asks in subtle ways what are the limits of progress.  It reminded me of John Gray far more than I had been expecting.  And it’s about an America with no NIMBY, where everyone wants the projects right in their backyard.  The space program in fact sets off a rivalry between Texas and Florida to house the first moon shot…and it is to be done with a very large gun.
Definitely recommended, here is the book’s Wikipedia page.

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