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The difference between Muhammad (PBUH)' book (the Creator's Word) and Jules Verne was one is describing the mechanism of processes which can theoretically be investigated right at the moment it was mentioned and the other one predicted and imagined way into the future
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Describing the mechanism that can theoretically be investigated sounds pretty much like the core of western scintific exploration since the renaissance. That is using measurement and experimentation to arrive or debunk a hypothesis.
Early Islam was actually quite adept at this having taken to heart the findings of the Greeks (mainly Aristotle) and establishing a nascent Islamic culture of science and philosophy. However, the foremost Islamic scholar of the time Ghazali did not go beyond this stage of science and make "applied" paramount in Islamic thought. Scientific study was secondary to the submission to God.
The big rift between Science and Religion in Europe occured because of adapting Science for utilitarian purposes, thereby abandoning quest for truth or nature of god. As a result of which bringing in the "modern" western society. At some point in History the European countries radically developed their societies differently from Islamic ones. It is this divergence which is interesting and worth analyzing.
[Edited on 21-11-2003 by oracle]