From the Earth to the Moon and ‘Round the Moon is the first story of space exploration and remains a beloved work of daring exploits-and surprisingly accurate scientific conjecture. When the members of the Baltimore Gun Club-bored Civil War veterans-decide to fill their time by embarking on a project to shoot themselves to the moon, the race is on to raise money, overcome engineering challenges, and convince detractors that they’re anything but “Lunatics. ” With this work, Verne inspired the first science fiction film, 1902’s Le Voyage dans la lune, and accurately predicted that that ideal location for a space base is in Florida.