Jules Verne

Highest Rated: 100% The Fabulous World of Jules Verne (1958)

Lowest Rated: 71% Around the World in 80 Days (1956)

Birthday: Feb 8, 1828

Birthplace: Pays-de-la-Loire, France

Unquestionably one of the most popular authors in literary history, 19th century French writer Jules Verne created a world of scientific wonder and technological discovery in such classic novels as Journey to the Center of the Earth (1864) and Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea (1870) that helped give rise to the science fiction genre. Verne's work predicted travel through the air, into space and under the sea at a time when such accomplishments were still the stuff of fantasy, and presented them in thrilling adventures that continued to capture the imagination of readers a century later. His work also proved ideal for film and television adaptations, which strove mightily to translate his scope and vision through elaborate special effects. More significantly, Verne's novels were part of the foundation on which the whole of science fiction was built, inspiring writers and filmmakers to imagine the furthest reaches of human achievement. Jules Verne's body of work placed him among a select number of 19th century authors whose writing had a profound influence on the written and visual entertainment of the centuries that followed.