In 1839, 25 years before Jules Verne, French botanist and geologist Pierre Boitard (1789-1859) published Journey to the Sun, the first story of adventure and scientific popularization for young people, depicting a voyage through the solar system, with the beings of each of the planets representing a different stage of Man's evolution. Two years earlier, Boitard had published Paris Before Humankind, well before, well before the emergence of palaeontology; it was the first Darwinian narrative, including pre-historical ape-men.Both of these ground-breaking novellas were at the time attempts to produce what would nowadays be called "hard science fiction" speculative fiction based on accurate scientific data.
In 1839, 25 years before Jules Verne, French botanist and geologist Pierre Boitard (1789-1859) published Journey to the Sun, the first story of adventure and scientific popularization for young people, depicting a voyage through the solar system, with the beings of each of the planets representing a different stage of Man's evolution. Two years earlier, Boitard had published Paris Before Humankind, well before, well before the emergence of palaeontology; it was the first Darwinian narrative, including pre-historical ape-men.Both of these ground-breaking novellas were at the time attempts to produce what would nowadays be called "hard science fiction" speculative fiction based on accurate scientific data.
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