shousa
03-26-2008, 07:23 AM
I wish "Floating City" (which has a story line distinctly similar to the movie Titanic) was in English.
Jules Verne was on the greatest engineering marvel of perhaps all time "The Great Eastern" (a real ship he took a voyage on in 1867 and he wrote a love story that took place on the ship). It was a massive ship a hundred years ahead of its time because it was designed by perhaps the greatest engineer of all time....Brunel.
Brunel made faster railways, the first tunnel under a navigable river and the biggest bridges - this was possible because he was a genius and to do these things he had to solve long-standing engineering issues that seemed impossible.
Here are the pictures from the book:
http://jv.gilead.org.il/rpaul/Une%20ville%20flottante/
Here are many of his books:
http://jv.gilead.org.il/works.html
Why it was so great IMHO
1) the Great Eastern had a double hull and so would have survived the buckling that sunk the Titanic (it took 100 years before another ship had a double hull and now they are compulsory)
2) The ship was 5 times larger than anything built before.
3) Its engines were 4 storys high and on such a scale they could not be sure the power generated would even turn the props.
3) 300,000 plates of iron pieces made the hull. It took 6 men to winch each one.
4) This was more than 50 years before the Titanic.
5) First propellor driven iron ship
6) used steering engines
I wonder if anyone is interested in this story or who knows where an english translation or another story on the "Great Eastern" can be found?
Jules Verne was on the greatest engineering marvel of perhaps all time "The Great Eastern" (a real ship he took a voyage on in 1867 and he wrote a love story that took place on the ship). It was a massive ship a hundred years ahead of its time because it was designed by perhaps the greatest engineer of all time....Brunel.
Brunel made faster railways, the first tunnel under a navigable river and the biggest bridges - this was possible because he was a genius and to do these things he had to solve long-standing engineering issues that seemed impossible.
Here are the pictures from the book:
http://jv.gilead.org.il/rpaul/Une%20ville%20flottante/
Here are many of his books:
http://jv.gilead.org.il/works.html
Why it was so great IMHO
1) the Great Eastern had a double hull and so would have survived the buckling that sunk the Titanic (it took 100 years before another ship had a double hull and now they are compulsory)
2) The ship was 5 times larger than anything built before.
3) Its engines were 4 storys high and on such a scale they could not be sure the power generated would even turn the props.
3) 300,000 plates of iron pieces made the hull. It took 6 men to winch each one.
4) This was more than 50 years before the Titanic.
5) First propellor driven iron ship
6) used steering engines
I wonder if anyone is interested in this story or who knows where an english translation or another story on the "Great Eastern" can be found?