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Post by phileasfogg on Aug 31, 2024 13:03:06 GMT
Minor Spoilers Below for The Mysterious Island
Does anyone else find it odd that Lincoln Island seems to have all four seasons despite it's location? Verne places it at 34°57′S 150°30′W. This is in Polynesia about 1/4 of the way between New Zealand and Chile. Islands in that part of the world tend to be more temperate and less prone to big shifts in temperature, but Verne mentions the characters having to prepare for snow and severe cold.
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Post by farseer on Aug 31, 2024 14:11:19 GMT
That's relatively close to New Zealand, but a bit to the north. I would expect the winters to be relatively mild. It can be cold, but snow should be unusual, unless there's something going on with the sea currents that makes that part colder than the north of New Zealand.
Although Verne did some traveling, he was not a great traveler, and he had no personal experience of that zone. Of course, he did some research, but I have always had the impression that the fauna he places in his islands was a bit unrealistic. Like, too much variety and too many dangerous animals for such small places.
I guess something similar may happen with the weather. He takes some liberties when it suits the story.
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Post by phileasfogg on Aug 31, 2024 14:48:26 GMT
Yes, I could imagine a climate slightly warmer than New Zealand... although maybe cooler for the parts of Lincoln Island that are at a higher elevation, but still mild. That's an interesting point about the variety and number of dangerous animals in certain places. His sources were probably natural history books from the libraries in Paris, and these would have had limited information on certain parts of the world if for on other reason than the fact that they were written in the 1800s and many of the places Verne wrote about had not been well explored by Europeans yet.
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berc
Administrator 
Posts: 44 
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Post by berc on Sept 1, 2024 6:39:14 GMT
It's off-topic, but the illustrations of Lincoln Island are also inaccurate. I mean, Verne depicted it incorrectly according to his details. Here's a detailed explanation—I love reading Andreas Fehrmann's Collection: www.j-verne.de/verne19_1.html |
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Post by farseer on Sept 1, 2024 7:45:59 GMT
Interesting read. Not just the shape of the island, but also the vegetation. Yes, details like, if it gets so cold in winter, then the vegetation is not right, were also things that Verne often did not get right. Not that it spoils the story, of course. |
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Post by harryhayfield on Sept 6, 2024 10:57:48 GMT
Speaking from a slight degree of authority, I studied climate in high school back in the 1980's, here is a possible solution.
Lincoln Island is slightly closer to New Zealand that is it to Chile, therefore could have a climate that has elements of both nations, plus for every 100m you climb the temperature drops by between 0.65°C and 1.00°C so it possible that both could be true
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Post by farseer on Sept 6, 2024 13:04:53 GMT
Speaking from a slight degree of authority, I studied climate in high school back in the 1980's, here is a possible solution. Lincoln Island is slightly closer to New Zealand that is it to Chile, therefore could have a climate that has elements of both nations, plus for every 100m you climb the temperature drops by between 0.65°C and 1.00°C so it possible that both could be true Regarding height, if I remember correctly, in the novel, it snowed at sea level during the winter in Lincoln Island. |
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Post by phileasfogg on Sept 6, 2024 13:42:26 GMT
Speaking from a slight degree of authority, I studied climate in high school back in the 1980's, here is a possible solution. Lincoln Island is slightly closer to New Zealand that is it to Chile, therefore could have a climate that has elements of both nations, plus for every 100m you climb the temperature drops by between 0.65°C and 1.00°C so it possible that both could be true Regarding height, if I remember correctly, in the novel, it snowed at sea level during the winter in Lincoln Island. You are not wrong Interestingly, earlier on Verne makes note of the same thing harryhayfield commented on |
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