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and humans of unnatural size. In none of Wells' works is technology used for ultimate good. Even in Wells' utopian novel In the Days of the Comet, it is not science that improves the status of man, but rather a comet whose tail has unknown properties.

Both men wrote their science fiction from different ends of the spectrum. Verne was more science than fiction, while Wells was more fiction than science. In most of Verne's works, detailed explanations of the technology behind the machines is provided. For example, 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea contains detailed technical descriptions of the Nautilus. Verne commonly described the flora and fauna of the various exotic locations portrayed in his stories. The most obvious difference between science vs. fiction in the works of the two men is in how space travel is portrayed. In From the Earth to the Moon, Verne provides detailed plans on the spacecraft, launching mechanism, gravitational pull and trajectories. He dedicates several chapters explaining how the trip was to take place. In The First Men in the Moon, Wells simply conceives of cavorite, a substance that eliminates the impacts of gravity and allows space travel. Wells provides no details on how cavorite would work or what it is.

While there was undoubtedly competition between these two accomplished authors, both are highly regarded as early science fiction writers and both have earned the right to share the title Father of Science Fiction.

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