Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea of the premiere adventure novels and one of Verne's greatest works, along with "Around the World in Eighty Days" and "Journey to the Center of the Earth". The description of Nemo's ship, the "Nautilus", was considered ahead of its time, as it accurately describes features on submarines, which at the time were very primitive vessels. A model of the French submarine "Plongeur" (launched in 1863) was displayed at the 1867 Exposition Universelle, where it was studied by Jules Verne, who used it as an inspiration for the novel. The title refers to the "distance traveled" while under the sea and
Cultural influence of Jules Verne conversational character robot designed and built by him "Jules" in memory of Jules Verne. It is able to speak and respond in a human like manner, based on what it hears and has facial muscles that react to speech. Other scientific figures known to have been influenced by Verne include Fridtjof Nansen, Wernher von Braun, Guglielmo Marconi, and Yuri Gagarin. Arthur Rimbaud was inspired to write his well-known poem "Le Bateau ivre" after reading "Twenty Thousand Leagues Under the Sea", which he extensively alludes to within the poem; "The Adventures of Captain Hatteras" was likely an additional source of inspiration.