How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Paragraph)
Quote #1
The Yankees, the first mechanics of the world, are born engineers, as Italians are born musicians and Germans metaphysicians (1.3)
Technological growth is built into the American DNA. It doesn't matter if you're talking about cannons, airplanes, or computers—chances are good that an American has something to do with its invention. Technology is like apple pie to this country.
Quote #2
J.T. Maston was carried away by his enthusiasm; his voice assumed lyrical accents, as he sang this sacred song of the shot (7.16)
Throughout the novel, Verne uses spiritual imagery ("the sacred song") to describe technology. For men like Maston, technological growth is a religious mission. All praise be to Google.
Quote #3
"I should be the last to assert that the science of gunnery has made no progress, but we must not forget that the middle ages obtained astonishing results" (7.52)
Barbicane is impressed by the resourcefulness of those medieval inventors. Technology isn't always a zero-sum game: Sometimes forward motion in time doesn't lead to forward motion in technological growth.
Quote #4
"For my part," said J.T. Maston, "I vote for a cannon half a mile long at least." (8.11)
Maston is nothing if not excessive. But how different is this than people who can't wait for new smartphones to get bigger and better, or the dudes who brag to all of their friends about buying the most expensive TV on the market?
Quote #5
During the American War some cannons are said to have cost 1,000 dollars a shot. President Barbicane's gun […] would probably cost 5,000 times as much. (12.31)
This cannon might be the most ambitious piece of technology ever created—it's certainly the most expensive one—but like all new technology, it will only become more affordable once it's been around for a while. And that is why you (and everyone you know) should go out and buy an N64.
Quote #6
All were constructed on the same model, and their square, high chimneys presented a most singular spectacle. (15.2)
This uniformity is something that would've been impossible one hundred years before the writing of this book. Although they're never explicitly referenced, the innovations of the industrial age make the Gun Club's project possible.
Quote #7
The projectile is the carriage of the future, and in point of fact the planets are but projectiles - mere cannonballs thrown from the hand of the Creator (19.7)
Before there were ships, people couldn't cross oceans. Before trains, they couldn't cross countries. How far will humans be able to explore once this new technology has reached their hands? What's more, how much will this new form of transportation transform the human experience?
Quote #8
"Yes, pretty well," replied Michel Ardan […] "only I am sorry that the shape is not more slender and the cone more graceful. It ought to have been finished off with some ornaments in metal-work." (22.8)
Ardan is less "modern" than his American peers. While the men of the Gun Club are forward-thinking to a fault, Ardan is dedicated to preserving the artistic sensibilities of the past. In a way, this is portrayed as a contrast between the French and American ways of life.
Quote #9
The detonation which instantly followed was […] superhuman resembling nothing ever heard before. (26.28)
There's never been anything like this cannon before. The "superhuman" sound (and all of the other effects caused by the launch) shows us that the world won't ever be the same again.
Quote #10
The column of flame which rose to a prodigious height towards the sky illumined the whole of Florida, and […] night was turned into day over a vast expanse of country (27.1)
This cannon is so powerful that it changes the weather. Whoa. This isn't necessarily a good thing, though—it causes natural disasters and a significant loss of life. Do you think that the Gun Club anticipates something like happening? No matter how much you plan for worst case scenarios, the road to technological innovation is rarely an easy one.