the mysterious island shipwrecked in the air

This they could bake under heat from fire to produce rich dry lime. Then the crew discovered Limestone in the area near the north shore of Lake Grant. The discovery of figuline clay near Lake Grant mixed with sand allowed the crew to make bricks by first drying them in the sun and air for several days and then bake them by a fire made from bundles of branches stacked inside and out of squares of stacked bricks. This first fire allowed them to char cloth for making tinder for ease in making later fires. First the men succeeded in building a fire, although they cheated a bit by using more advanced technology (glass lenses) to start it.

What are some examples of technologies and tools that the shipwrecked crew living on Lincoln Island recreated and then used to build other tools and technologies? Pottery was one technology that developed from more primitive technology. Their iron and steel were as yet merely ore, their pottery clay, their clothes and linen only vegetal fibers. To be sure, they had nothing to invent, thanks to the long history of human ingenuity but they would be forced to create with their own hands every object they might need. The work that lay ahead of them was far more daunting than that of nature herself, who, “having plenty of time, spares every effort.” Time was precisely what they lacked, as the requirements for their subsistence would have to be met at once. This idea is summarized in the following quote from Chapter 13 of Part I of The Mysterious Island where it states:Īnd the colonists would indeed have to start at the “beginning.” They lacked even the tools needed to make tools. Otherwise the advanced of mankind is stunted to remain little above the animal, forever stuck using primitive tools and devoting most of his energy merely to survive.

Most importantly is the notion of technology as the springboard for more advanced technology.

Jules Verne’s classic novel “The Mysterious Island” illustrates man as a being endowed with the ability to create tools and technology to help improve his condition.

The mysterious island shipwrecked in the air