"Le Géant" (The Giant), inspired Jules Verne's "Five Weeks in a Balloon". Nadar was the inspiration for the character of Michael Ardan in Verne's "From the Earth to the Moon". In 1862, Verne and Nadar established a "Société pour la recherche de la navigation aérienne", which later became "La Société d'encouragement de la locomotion aérienne au moyen du plus lourd que l'air" (The Society for the Encouragement of Aerial Locomotion by Means of Heavier than Air Machines). Nadar served as president and Verne as secretary.