The Design and Construction of the Nautilus Hardcover – October 13, 2018

This is a welcome take on one of fiction’s greatest vehicles. It is a well grounded approach to the question of what would it take to actually build such a submarine in the 19th century, using only the tools, techniques, and materials available during that time period.The author only strays from his references of Verne’s original work where necessary to make something work in a practical manner.My only regret is that the book isn’t more expansive, as this is one of the best “What If?” technical treatments to emerge since Franz Joseph’s Enterprise blueprints.It is the book Nautilus fan’s have been waiting for… and it sure isn’t for the Disney crowd.

Book arrived today 2 days ahead of schedule. My messy health is being inconvenient today, so focusing on reading the book will have to wait, but I have paged through looking at the illustrations and they are quite nice, a mix of new technical diagrams and period woodcuts. Are even some period photographs. A feature I already like is that it appears each chapter closes with a page about historical submarine development.

Great book and beautiful layout. I enjoyed receiving this as a gift and recommend it.

If you like 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea... this book is for you. Reading it and glossing over the illustrations... You actually start to believe that maybe this is real or could be real. This is a addition to my 20,000 leagues under the sea collection

As another Nautilus planned and designer, I think this work by Capt. Demetri Capetanopoulos is a genuine tribute to Verne"s narrative in the "20,000 Leagues Under The Sea" novel. The historical accuracy and depth of detail are second to none. Any fan of the fabulous Jules Verne Nautilus submarine should have this volume.

It’s hard to even start reviewing The Design and Construction of the Nautilus, because its so unique and just so stunning. Have you ever wondered what would happen if the machines from your favorite scifi could be brought to life, at least in the form of blueprints and calculations? Of course, some of those might be well off limits – we’re obviously not going to be able to draw up viable blueprints for the Stargate or a hyperdrive-capable space ship, because obviously, that’s not quite what our science permits (yet..?)But what if it were something more feasible? For example, what if we could build Jules Verne’s Nautilus? How many levels of epic would that be?I say, very many. And this is why it’s hard to review this book – as I’m sure it’s the only one of its kind. It’s so unique I’m pretty sure no one has ever thought of anything similar.The Design and Construction of the Nautilus is definitely a very unique book that will appeal to fans of Jules Verne, and especially so if they are also engineers. The book is full of high quality illustrations and blueprints of possible design solutions available at the time when the book was written, and these solutions can be very creative and are almost always compared with either existing designs of the time, or current designs, especially taking the care to explain why such a design works better, or why the previous design solution would have been abandoned or ineffective. More than that, the original Jules Verne text is quoted quite a lot and comparisons are made, ascertaining that the suggested designs fit into what’s described in the original story. You can find all sorts of interesting facts – for example, stuff like that the Nautilus would have had quadruple the amount of accomodation space than the present day submarines (and it’s no wonder, considering the amount of people Captain Nemo always seemed to have on hand!), or that the shape of Nautilus isn’t the shape adopted by most designs these days (we don’t many have pointy-ended submarines), and it is explained why it is this way. All of these facts really make you marvel!Truly, The Design and Construction of the Nautilus is a love song to Jules Verne’s masterpiece, and I’m sure he would be overjoyed to know that someone has taken so much effort after such a long time of Jules Verne’s book being out in the world to give Nautilus’s designs a chance to be reborn in the 21st century.I have to say though, The Design and Construction of The Nautilus is obviously a very hobbyist book. I will admit I couldn’t always follow all the explanations and facts, because my knowledge of submarines is basically non-existent. And what’s more, it’s been years since I did physics in university, so I’ve forgotten a lot of basic mechanics as well. However, it didn’t affect my reading experience, as the book is full of interesting pictures, blueprints and schematics,and it isn’t written in a dry manner either.So what else can you expect to find in The Design and Construction of the Nautilus?This is definitely not an exhaustive list, but it has most of the things I thought were worthy of note and truly interesting:- the materials it may have been built of, including the hull, the view ports, even the paint coating of the ship itself- the history of similar ships that started out at similar times- which living person (or persons) might - have inspired the character of Captain Nemo- what the Nautilus might have cost and how it may have been assembled, where it could have been built- comparisons of its core parameters with such vessels of today- the various Nautilus instruments- what power sources might have been used- the inner layout of the rooms and technical odds and ends, layouts of the compartments (“floors”)- even the artwork list on the walls of Nautilus!- …and many more thingsThe Design and Construction of the Nautilus has to be one of the most extensive sources of any sort of fanmade scifi lore that I have ever seen! It is truly breathtaking to see that the author poured so much love into this book. I am in awe of this work, and I have never seen anything of the like in any fandom, but I feel so incredibly lucky to have been able to hold this book in my hands. It is truly special!I thank the publisher for sending me a hardcover copy for free in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.

What thought and detail that went into writing this book will amaze you.