The Chase of the Golden Meteor

Blurb

The Chase of the Golden Meteor is a novel by Jules Verne. It was one of the last novels written by the prolific French hard science fiction pioneer and was only published in 1908, three years after his death. It is one of seven such posthumous novels, many of which were extensively edited by his son. Verne himself first wrote "La Chasse au météore" in 1901 and then rewrote it before his death. Michel Verne is known to have emphasised the romantic sub plot of this novel and expanded it from 17 to 21 chapters, among other changes.
It concerns the rivalry between two amateur astronomers in the same small American town who spot a new meteor and attempt to claim the credit for themselves. The meteor turns out to be extremely valuable, as can be guessed from the title, and another eccentric amateur scientist, this time an inventor, creates a device which will cause it to fall where he chooses. This character was an invention of Michel, rather than Jules, Verne.
The book is seen as less an early example of hard science fiction than a social satire lampooning greed, monomania and vanity.