During a recent business coaching program, we were challenged to compete with pitch decks on solutions for a city ravaged by a hurricane. The event was intense. People came up with cutting-edge ideas involving robots, IoT smart infrastructures, drones etc.
I vividly remembered Verne's novels and Cyrus Smith from the Mysterious Island - my teenage hero. I had to read the book again :)
Verne's inventions were predominantly mechanical, which made them easy to visualise. In today's world however, information innovation takes center stage.
Algorithmic breakthroughs might not be as captivating as Verne's constructs, mainly because one can't see them with their mind. However, their impact is several orders of magnitude higher.
Jules Verne makes survival feel inventive, orderly, and grand. The island becomes a laboratory with weather.
I liked the confidence in human ingenuity. The characters keep solving problems with knowledge, patience, and the occasional heroic amount of competence.
The adventure is old-fashioned, but that is part of the charm. It believes in tools, science, friendship, and progress without constantly apologizing for wonder.
A generous book for the imagination. It makes competence feel romantic, which is a very healthy literary service.