Known as the father of the modern submarine, American inventor Simon Lake had been captivated by the idea of undersea travel and exploration ever since he read Jules Verne’s Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea in 1870. Lake’s innovations included ballast tanks, divers’ compartments and the periscope. His company built the Argonaut—the first submarine to operate successfully in the open ocean, in 1898—earning him a congratulatory note from Verne.
The Argonaut, an early experiment in submarine design, has three wheels to draw it around the bottom of a river, lake, or sea. The design was not successful. | Located in: Mariners' Museum.
© The Mariners' Museum / CORBIS)
Helicopter
While Jules Verne is perhaps most famous for his fictional submarine, the Nautilus, the French author also envisioned the future of flight. Igor Sikorsky, inventor of the modern helicopter, was inspired by a Verne book, Clipper of the Clouds, which he had read as a young boy. Sikorsky often quoted Jules Verne, saying “Anything that one man can imagine, another man can make real.”
The VS-300, created by Igor Sikorsky, became the first successful helicopter after its historic tethered flight on September 14, 1939.
(© Bettmann / CORBIS)
By Mark Straus, Smithsonian.comRead more: http://www.smithsonianmag.com/science-nature/Ten-Inventions-Inspired-by-Science-Fiction.html#ixzz29DIvUAGe
Hiç yorum yok:
Yorum Gönder