H.G. Wells

H.G. Wells, even just the name conjures up images of Victorian space ships traveling to the moon or slimy black creatures invading the earth. Rightfully so, because Wells was a prolific writer of science fiction. Wells wrote over fifty novels and over one hundred books. His full name was Herbert George Wells. Wells was born in 1866 in Bromley, Kent, in England. When he was a child, he broke his leg and had to suffer extensive bed rest. He started reading every book he could find and this may have kindled his interest in literature. His interest in science was amplified by the fact that he had won a scholarship to, and attended, the Normal School of Science in London, England. Most writers have to struggle and never achieve fame but not Wells. His first major science fiction work was the Time Machine and it made him a celebrity. Wells and Jules Verne used to criticize each other with Wells stating that Verne couldn't write himself out of a paper bag and Verne saying there was bad science in Well's novels. Funny comments by the two best science fiction writers of the century and maybe of all time.

Some of Wells’ most famous science fiction works are the War of The Worlds (written in 1898), The Island of Dr. Moreau (written in 1895), The Time Machine (written in 1895), First Men in The Moon (written in 1901), The War in The Air (written in 1908) and The Invisible Man (written in 1897).

When Wells wrote the Time Machine, he described the machine as traveling through the fourth dimension. It was many years later that Albert Einstein developed his theory of time as being part of the fourth dimension. Was this just a coincidence?

First Men in The Moon was a prophetic view of space flight which would turn out to be accomplished a mere 68 years later.

The War in The Air was also prophetic but happened a lot faster as World War One started 6 years after the book was written.

As for the Island of Doctor Moreau, it is believed by some that Wells is trying to show us that man may not be the ultimate inheritor of the earth. My view on this is a little different. I think this story refers to genetic experimentation which is actually happening as we read this, but hopefully not in the way that Wells pictured it. If we were to think of genetic experimentation causing what happened in the book it would mean human and animal genes were mixed. Wait, haven’t we put some human genes into mice.

War of The Worlds was a very interesting book. It expressed the idea man may not be alone in the universe and other races may be hostile. I think we all know the radio broadcast by Orson Wells, a relation of H.G. Wells, scared the hell out of many people. It is even said that some got so scared at the thought of a Martian invasion that they committed suicide. It is interesting to note many people including scientists believe today we are not alone and it is only a matter of time before we are contacted by extraterrestrials.

Wells had become a sensation in the U.S. and Collier's Magazine published his stories as did the Saturday Evening Post and two of his books were serialized by Cosmopolitan Magazine.

Could it have been that Wells was a prophet, after all he was a lot more accurate in his predictions than many so called prophets? Most people think he was just more astute in understanding the signs of technology to come.

In 1903 Wells joined the Fabian Society in London, England. He joined the Fabian Society because he was concerned for society as a whole, but argued with some of the society's leaders including George Bernard Shaw. After leaving the Fabians he wrote the novel The New Machiavelli, which was about the society.

Here is a paragraph from his book The World Set Free: "Nothing could have been more obvious to the people of the early twentieth century than the rapidity with which war was becoming impossible. And as certainly they did not see it. They did not see it until the atomic bombs burst in their fumbling hands." Notice the reference to Atomic Bombs.

In later years Wells’ writing turned to social situations as he became more interested in the social order. He wrote Anticipations (written in 1901), Mankind in The Making (written in 1903) and A Modern Utopia (written in 1905). There were more of these types of books written and they all dealt with the English Victorian social order.

Wells was sickened by the outbreak of World War II. He had advocated a world government. He wrote we should establish a rational world order after the war. Wells was working on a project about the dangers of Nuclear War when he died in 1946.

Several different versions of The War of the Worlds have come out on film and on audio. Let’s hope the idea behind the story never comes true, that is an invasion of the earth by hostile enemy aliens.