First men in the moon and steampunk

[simon_alex0327]

There was a showing of the film "First Men in the Moon" based on the story by HG Wells on cable the other night. I recorded it as it was one of my favorites as a boy and wanted my 10 year old son to watch and share it. We sat and watched it a few nights ago and he was totally enthralled by it.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0058100/


I hadent seen it since I was in my teens, but several things rang home to me and this was a film made in 1964.
The images of the aliens:


Next was my interest in the Aristarchus Crater, mainly from Zorgons postings.
There was a crater featured in the film that opened up to reveal a series of honeycombed lenses.

Heres a picture from Zorgons site of the crater in question ( one that can turn its self on and off... reputedly    )...

To me that was kind of coincidental!
It got me thinking even further, here's a brief synopsis of the film...

Based on the HG Wells story. The world is delighted when a space craft containing a crew made up of the world's astronauts lands on the moon, they think for the first time. But the delight turns to shock when the astronauts discover an old British flag and a document declaring that the moon is taken for Queen Victoria proving that the astronauts were not the first men on the moon. On Earth, an investigation team finds the last of the Victorian crew - a now aged Arnold Bedford and he tells them the story of how he and his girlfriend, Katherine Callender, meet up with a inventor, Joseph Cavor, in 1899. Cavor has invented Cavorite, a paste that will allow anything to deflect gravity and he created a sphere that will actually take them to the moon. Taking Arnold and accidently taking Katherine they fly to the moon where, to their total amazement, they discover a bee-like insect population who take a unhealthy interest in their Earthly visitors... 
Going back in time to 1899, Arnold Bedford and his fiancée, Kate Callendar, learn that their neighbor, Joseph Cavor, has developed a substance he calls "cavorite," which counters gravity. They travel to the moon in a spherical vessel he has built, parts of which are coated with "cavorite."

Substances that counter gravity??? It suddenly struck me that during the Victorian period there was a lot of references to advanced scientific discovery. Was this because of the times they were living in and the advances being made?? Who knows... but upon thinking about it I discovered a whole subject that covered this time period.
The Victorian era of British history was the period of Queen Victoria's reign from 20 June 1837 until her death on 22 January 1901.

It even has its own name....
Steampunk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

Here are a few more films that I have now just thought of that cover this topic. Maybe you know more??

FILMS
The Time Machine
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0054387/

Cowboys & Aliens
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0409847/

Wild Wild West
http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120891/

It intrigues me by the interaction of aliens/wild technology during these times. Then you have the whole thing with Tesla etc. We can go back to the pyramids and know there were a lot of advances that have been forgotten, but could things also be forgotten or covered up by fiction only a few hundred years ago?? I thought it was fascinating enough for me to mention...
Many thanks for listening.

[ArMaP]

I'm a fan of HG Wells and of Victorian books.

I think that the Victorian era was like that because of the technological and scientific advancements people (well, the rich people that could spend time learning) could see and use, most people at the time were witnesses to most of the inventions/discoveries that made the 20th century what it was, so in the same way we (mostly) think of a technological future, so did they.

People that had the time to think about things could look at all those advancements and new knowledge and think about things would be if, for example, the other planets were inhabited or if time travel was possible, etc.

It's a very interesting time, like the one we are living now.

[petrus4]

It even has its own name....
Steampunk
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Steampunk

Steampunk is not a term which I would use to describe the actual historical period, at all.  Steampunk is actually a fairly difficult word to define, and the main reason why, is because it actually refers to (at least) two different things.

a}  A particular genre/style of literature; usually, but in my own mind not exclusively limited to fiction, and aesthetics.
b}  A philosophy governing the subject of solitary invention and/or engineering.

The one thing which both of these have in common, is a tendency to be primarily influenced by the Victorian period.  Personally, I have taken some liberty with the term, in the sense that I do not so much bind the genre to a specific time period, as I do to things which have been developed with a certain general aesthetic or philosophy in mind.  Steampunk has a particular energy to it, as do most things; you know it when you see it.

Most of you will know about Jules Verne and H.G. Welles, of course, but I have actually found some of the philosophy of the Victorian period on the non-fictional (or at least allegorical) side of the fence to be a little more beneficial, in truth.  This would consist primarily of:-

a}  The work of Edward Bellamy, being his two books Looking Backward and Equality.  Both of these are available from Project Gutenberg, and I strongly recommend them.

b}  The work of Wallace Wattles (The Science of Getting Rich) and the rest of the Christian Socialist/New Thought movement.  One of the greatest works of the latter that I know of, was Christian Larson's Applied Metaphysics for Beginners.

c}  The early work of the Spiritualist movement, starting from about the 1850s or so onward.  One of the best examples of that which I've been able to find, is Elsa Barker's Letters from a Living Dead Man.

d}  Vivekananda's Raja Yoga.  Swami Vivekananda was the man who gave a series of evening lectures that Nikola Tesla was supposed to have attended in the last days of his life, concerning the nature of the universe.

e}  Walter Russell's The Universal One.  Given that this book is becoming quite difficult to find on the Internet now, I would appreciate it if some of you were to download it, even if you did not read it, in order to ensure that sufficient copies of it remain in existence.

f}  The Master Key System by Charles F Haanel, published in 1912.

g}  The Kybalion, dated 1908.

As you can see, the period produced a large number of books on the subject of the fundamental nature of reality; given the degree of scientific progress at that time, there was a lot of optimism that everything could be understood.  As a result, many of these books also have a sense of sublime altruism and optimism as well; they imply a real desire on the part of their authors, to help their fellow man.