Early Writings in Science and Science Fiction

by H.G. Wells

Includes the first serialized version of The Time Machine, short stories from Wells' student days at South Kensington, and essays from the 1890's that speculate on the future.

264 pages, Hardcover

First published June 1, 1975

About the author

Herbert George Wells was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an "usher," or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Dr. Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), and The War of the Worlds (1898).

Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons, Wells was an unabashed advocate of free (as opposed to "indiscriminate") love. He continued to openly have extra-marital liaisons, most famously with Margaret Sanger, and a ten-year relationship with the author Rebecca West, who had one of his two out-of-wedlock children. A one-time member of the Fabian Society, Wells sought active change. His 100 books included many novels, as well as nonfiction, such as A Modern Utopia (1905), The Outline of History (1920), A Short History of the World (1922), The Shape of Things to Come (1933), and The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind (1932). One of his booklets was Crux Ansata, An Indictment of the Roman Catholic Church. Although Wells toyed briefly with the idea of a "divine will" in his book, God the Invisible King (1917), it was a temporary aberration. Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best-remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.

He was also an outspoken socialist. Wells and Jules Verne are each sometimes referred to as "The Fathers of Science Fiction". D. 1946.

More: http://philosopedia.org/index.php/H._...

http://www.online-literature.com/well...

http://www.hgwellsusa.50megs.com/

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/t...

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/H._G._Wells

Reviews

[Tell Tale Books · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting volume of early articles and stories by Wells. But only to the person who is deeply into Wells and wants to be complete.
The most exciting part (to me) is the early first publication of The Time Machine, included in its entirety here, which I had not previously known about. While this is a published version of The Time Machine, it does read like a first draft. All of the elements of the final story are there – the Moorlocks and Eloi, the sphinx sculpture – it doesn’t have the story, the suspense, the detail of the version of the novel we all know. And there is much more speculative scientific conversation, making it less of a story than listening to the arguments of a group of professors. So that makes it much weaker than the final novel. But this was Wells’ first attempt at writing a longer story. It is interesting to compare this to the earlier Chronic Argonauts and to the final version of this novel, seeing how Wells developed his writing skill to write one of the greatest novels of all time.
One interesting detail that I don’t recall from the final Heinemann version of The Time Machine, is speculation about robots. Wells didn’t use the term “robot”, but it was clearly a description of a machine to do our hard work that developed a soul. What sort of story could Wells have written about that? We can only speculate since he never did take that idea for a full story. I wish he had.
The articles are also interesting from a historical/philosophical perspective, but with the advances we have seen in science since Wells wrote, they are of little practical value. They just provide further illumination of Wells as a writer and thinker. Many of the subjects do relate to his early science fiction stories.
Recommended only to the true H.G. Wells fan, but it is a must for fans.
-Gregory Kerkman

[Arthur · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't read all the scientific essays in their entirety. The Time Machine was excellent, with some nicely presented theories on the fourth dimension, and wonderful imagery of a future time where the static sun hangs on the horizon in a permanently red sky. I just couldn't get all that into most of the essays on social science. It seemed like they were writings contemporary to the time, referencing current literature, and I couldn't invest the mental energy in placing myself there.