The discovery of a falling golden meteor and the race to find it form the core of this exciting tale from the master of science fiction, Jules Verne. An asteroid wanders into the earth's gravitational field and is spotted by two rival Virginia astronomers. The discovery becomes a worldwide sensation when it is announced that the asteroid is solid gold and is plummeting toward earth. The approaching disaster is brought on by the machinations of the brilliant but absent-minded French scientist and inventor Zephyrin Xirdal. Xirdal has invented a ray with which he pulls the golden asteroid from orbit and hopes to guide it to crash at a spot of his choosing. Xirdal, the two Virginia astronomers and their families, and representatives from many nations race to find and claim the golden meteor. The Chase of the Golden Meteor is vintage Verne, artfully blending hard science and scientific speculation with a farcical comedy of manners. This unabridged edition will be sure to delight Verne's legion of fans and attract new ones. Jules Verne (1828-1905), one of the founders of science fiction, is the author of such classics as Around the World in Eighty Days, Journey to the Center of the Earth, and Twenty Thousand Leagues under the Sea. Gregory A. Benford is an acclaimed science fiction writer and a professor of physics at the University of California, Irvine. He has won the Nebula Award for Timescape and If the Stars Are Gods, cowritten with Gordon Eklund.