Jules Verne
Jules Verne (1828-1905) was a French author of adventure and science fiction novels, in addition to being a poet and a playwright. He is best known for his Voyages Extraordinaires series, which makes up the vast majority of his work. His work is not meant to be science fiction, although he is considered to be one of the foremost pioneers of the genre. Although he was not a scientist or an inventor, he wrote about space, air and underwater travel before such the forms of transportation were out of their infancies (or in the case of space travel, created).