Summary
Summary of From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon
From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon at a glance
Summary: 7 min to read
- Reading time
- About 5 h 40 min4 h 30 min fast, 6 h 45 min slow
- Length
- 81,400 words
- Library level
- Medium longer sentences, everyday words
Reading time at 238 words a minute (fast 300, slow 200). How long the classics take to read · Updated
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Key ideas
Key idea 1
Idle gunmakers find a new purpose
Peace has left Baltimore’s Gun Club with skills to spare and nothing to use them for. Its members once measured success by the size of their cannons and the reach of their shells. Now the clubrooms gather dust, and the men grumble over their lost occupation.
Barbicane gives their restless energy a new direction: fire a shell at the Moon. His calm proposal sets the hall roaring and draws the newspapers’ attention. A shared goal turns boredom into action.
Key idea 2
A dream becomes a design
Barbicane begins with questions rather than a rush to build.
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Key idea 3
Careful steps build the giant gun
At Stones Hill, Barbicane marks the place where the shell will leave Earth.
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Key idea 4
A passenger turns enemies into partners
Michel Ardan sends a startling request: change the shell’s shape, because he intends to ride inside it.
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Key idea 5
Calm habits steady the travelers
The Columbiad fires, and the three travelers wake inside their shell to the sight of stars.
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Key idea 6
A missed landing invites closer observation
Barbicane discovers that the shell is drifting sideways.
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Key idea 7
Imagination and measurement need each other
Barbicane measures, Ardan imagines, and Nicholl keeps close track of the calculations.
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Key idea 8
Large goals grow through shared inquiry
The adventure brings together bored artillerymen, astronomers, an enormous gun, and a Frenchman eager to become a passenger.
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Go deeper: the whole of From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon
About 5 h 50 min to read.Start freeWho it’s for
You will love this if you enjoy bold adventure, comic friendships, and clever people solving practical problems. It suits readers curious about space, early science fiction, and engineering.
What this book is
What makes a hall full of old soldiers, many of them missing arms and legs, cheer for the Moon? In Baltimore, just after the Civil War, the Gun Club has no wars left to fight. Then its president, Impey Barbicane, proposes something no gunner has tried: to fire a shell all the way to the Moon.
This is From the Earth to the Moon and its sequel, Round the Moon, by Jules Verne. He built the voyage out of real numbers and real science, and filled it with jokes, arguments and a large appetite for breakfast. You get one continuous story, from the first speech to the last days of the flight.
In this summary
- 1Idle gunmakers find a new purposeFree
- 2A dream becomes a design
- 3Careful steps build the giant gun
- 4A passenger turns enemies into partners
- 5Calm habits steady the travelers
- 6A missed landing invites closer observation
- 7Imagination and measurement need each other
- 8Large goals grow through shared inquiry
Idle artillerymen find a new target
In Baltimore, a club of gunmakers is proud of its enormous cannons. Members judge one another by the weight of their guns and the distance their shells fly.
Then the war ends, and peace is a disaster for them. The clubrooms fill with dust. Tom Hunter burns his wooden legs in the fireplace while he grumbles, and the secretary, J. T. Maston, threatens to bury himself in the prairies if he cannot test his new mortar.
Into this gloom comes a note from Barbicane, who promises news of the greatest interest. The hall is packed. He is calm and exact, and he says that all the old dreams of reaching the Moon were impractical. Then he states his plan: artillery is now strong enough to fire a shell at the Moon. The hall explodes in noise, and five hundred newspapers take up the idea.
People with skill and nothing to do will grab the biggest goal in sight.
That’s 1 of 8 key points.
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Check yourself
How does Barbicane begin turning the Moon project into a practical plan?
Right. “He sends six questions to the Cambridge Observatory, and the answers come back in two days.”Not quite. “He sends six questions to the Cambridge Observatory, and the answers come back in two days.”
How does Ardan turn Barbicane and Nicholl from rivals into partners?
Right. “Ardan then offers the two rivals a deal: come with me, and see who is right.”Not quite. “Ardan then offers the two rivals a deal: come with me, and see who is right.”
Why do Ardan’s imaginative guesses matter even when they are wrong?
Right. “His guesses are often wrong, but his questions push the others to look harder.”Not quite. “His guesses are often wrong, but his questions push the others to look harder.”
Go deeper: the whole of From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon
About 5 h 50 min to read.Start freePaperback, hardcover and large print, printed for you at cost, are on their way.Email me when it is printed
Who’s who
- Impey Barbicane
- The calm, exact president of the Gun Club, who proposes the Moon shot and wants to prove it can be done.
- Captain Nicholl
- An armor maker from Philadelphia, Barbicane's rival, who bets against the plan and loves exact calculation.
- Michel Ardan
- A talkative Frenchman who asks to ride inside the shell and meets every danger with a joke.
- J. T. Maston
- The loyal secretary of the Gun Club, with a steel hook and a gutta-percha skull, who longs to join the voyage.
- Murchison
- The engineer who builds the gun at Stones Hill and fires it at the appointed second.
- Diana
- The travelers' dog, who is meant to found a line of lunar dogs and keeps Ardan company.
About this edition
Every format is free to start, and print and large print are at cost.
- LengthAbout 81,400 words
- Reading timeAbout 5 h 40 min
- FormatseBook, large-print eBook, audiobook, 15-minute summary
- LanguagesEnglish and 12 other languages
Questions about From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon
What is From the Earth to the Moon about?
It tells how the Baltimore Gun Club, led by Impey Barbicane, plans and builds a giant cannon to fire a shell at the Moon, and how a Frenchman named Michel Ardan joins the crew.
Who are Barbicane, Nicholl and Michel Ardan?
Barbicane is the calm president of the Gun Club, Nicholl is his rival who makes armor plates, and Ardan is a talkative Frenchman. After a near duel, all three agree to ride in the shell together.
What is the Columbiad?
The Columbiad is the giant cannon the club builds in Florida. It is nine hundred feet long, sunk into the ground at Stones Hill, and loaded with guncotton to launch the shell toward the Moon.
Is From the Earth to the Moon a true story?
It is fiction. Verne wrote it in the nineteenth century and used the real science of his day, with real astronomers, mountains and measurements, to give the imagined voyage a convincing, practical feel.
Do I need to read Round the Moon as well?
Round the Moon continues the same voyage right after the launch, and its opening preface sums up the first book. Together they form one connected story, so reading both gives the full journey.
Cite this edition
Verne, Jules. From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. Library of Alexandria, 2026, libraryofalexandria.com/products/from-the-earth-to-the-moon-and-round-the-moon.
Verne, J. (2026). From the Earth to the Moon; and, round the Moon. Library of Alexandria. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/from-the-earth-to-the-moon-and-round-the-moon
Verne, Jules. From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon. Library of Alexandria, 2026. https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/from-the-earth-to-the-moon-and-round-the-moon.
@book{verne2026from,
author = {Verne, Jules},
title = {From the Earth to the Moon; and, Round the Moon},
publisher = {Library of Alexandria},
year = {2026},
url = {https://libraryofalexandria.com/products/from-the-earth-to-the-moon-and-round-the-moon}
}
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