H.G. Wells:
Romancer of Dark Science

With the recent release of the new 'War of the Worlds,'� the names of Spielberg and Cruise are again on the lips of movie fans. But another name deserves just as much, if not more, attention. The name of the man that first unleashed the Martians (and more) on the world over a century ago. H.G. Wells has been called the father of science fiction, and with good reason. He expanded the fledgling genre, revealing its' brightest possibilities, while exposing its' darkest shadows.

Herbert George Wells was born in Bromley, England on September 21, 1866. He was the third son of lower middle class parents, his father a shopkeeper and his mother a housemaid. The family's income was modest and they lived in a few meager rooms underneath his father's shop, with a grating in the street above the only source of outside light. Those early years of struggle and squalor left an impression on Wells' mind that would often express itself in his works. Fortunately, Wells was blessed with an extraordinary mind that gave him a love of reading, a brilliant imagination, and a determination to better himself and the world around him.
When Wells was fourteen (in 1880), he was apprenticed to a draper, a job he loathed and was dismissed from after three months. He was apprenticed then to a pharmacist, then to another draper, until in 1883, he became an assistant teacher at a grammar school. He excelled in his studies and earned a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in London the following year. There he discovered the three influences that shaped the course of his life.
Wells studied biology under Thomas H. Huxley, a staunch proponent of Darwin's Theory of Evolution, which he had helped make more acceptable in educational circles. Huxley declared that as man progressed, his discoveries of science could benefit him greatly if he could keep his baser nature in check and not use them destructively. Wells had the greatest respect for Huxley and developed a strong faith in scientific advancement and using it for good.
He was also exposed to Socialist thought as espoused by the newly formed Fabian Society, which Wells would later be a member from 1903 to 1908. The Fabians believed that gradual social reform was the key to eliminating poverty, crime, and disparity between the upper and lower classes. Wells saw this as the solution to the misery he had seen and experienced as a child.
While in school, Wells wrote a series of scientific essays that were well received by teachers and classmates alike. One of these was a speculative piece in which he described humanity's descendents: large head (housing his highly evolved brain), strong hands, and dwindled body immersed in a tub of nutrients beneath a massive crystal dome. It was so well received that Wells submitted it to the popular magazine, The Pall Mall Gazette, which published it as 'The Man of the Year Million.'� Wells discovered the printed word's ability to inform and influence, and his imagination's ability to entertain.
Unfortunately, not everyone close to Wells shared these interests. He married his cousin, Isabel Mary Wells, in 1891. But she lacked education and the desire for improvement, and her husband's intellectual conversations and pursuits were lost on her. They divorced in 1895, leaving Wells free to marry one of his students at the University Correspondence College, Amy Catherine Robbins, the same year. This marriage lasted much longer, despite Wells' periodic affairs, until her death from Cancer in 1927.

While working as an editor for a student publication, 'The Science Schools Journal,'� Wells conceived a serialized tale he called 'The Chronic Argonauts.'� Steeped in gothic prose, it dealt with a Dr. Moses Nebogipfel (who with his lanky black hair, pulsating arteries, and transparent yellow skin bore a curious resemblance to Mary Shelly's depiction of the Frankenstein Monster) and his building a time machine in a mist shrouded, cobweb filled mansion. Wells was approached by editor W.E. Henley, who wanted to print it in book form. Using this as a chance to rework the story, he submitted it and his first novel was published in 1895: 'The Time Machine.'�
In this revised version, the protagonist (simply called The Time Traveler) takes his colleagues' after dinner speculations about time a step further by constructing a time machine in his workshop. Returning from its' test run, he recounts to them a harrowing adventure. Climbing into the machine, the Time Traveler watched the days and nights pass in a disorientating blur as he journeyed into the future. Stopping in the year 802,701, he discovered man's two separate classes will split into two separate races. The upper classes will become fragile, childlike beings called Eloi and spend their days frolicking in Edenic gardens and among the ruins of past civilizations. The lower classes will become apish, subterranean beasts called Morlocks who toil during the day providing food and clothes for the Eloi, but come out at night to hunt for food - the Eloi.
All intelligence, curiosity, and self-will are to be bred out in the future. The Eloi play and are eaten by the Morlocks, the Morlocks work and eat the Eloi. Such is the end result of the natural order and The Time Traveler realized his inability to change it. He was even unable to save Weena, the Eloi girl that became his companion, when she disappeared after a forest fire, apparently taken by the Morlocks. He did manage to recover the time machine from the Morlocks after they stole it. Traveling forward again, he observed a barren landscape populated with huge creatures resembling butterflies and crabs. Traveling even further, he witnessed the final end: the sun will burn out, leaving a dead Earth in frozen darkness.
After recounting his tale, The Time Traveler climbs back into his machine and disappears. It remains for his companions to wonder where he has gone, if he will return, and to make the most of the lives they have been given.
'The Time Machine'� was a success and introduced readers to a new type of fiction Wells dubbed scientific romance (the term science fiction would not be coined until 1926 by 'Amazing Stories' publisher Hugo Gernsback). Unlike later science fiction writers, Wells did not focus on plausible explanations for the fantastic elements in his stories. Instead, he focused on the social and personal implications these elements had on his characters- regular people that readers could identify with.

During the 1890s, a debate was waged in scientific circles on the ethics of vivisection. Combining it with Evolutionist theory, Wells used it as the basis for his second novel, published in 1896. But while 'The Time Machine'� started Wells' career, 'The Island of Dr. Moreau'� nearly finished it.
The tale is told through the eyes of Edward Prendick, survivor of a shipwreck in the South Seas. Picked up by a supply ship, Prendick ends up on an island populated by grotesque natives that unnerve him beyond physical appearance, yet he cannot understand why. Also on the island is Dr. Moreau, a once eminent Physiologist that was drummed out of England when his inhumane operations on animals were exposed. Moreau treats Prendick civilly, yet refuses to explain the tortured screams coming from one of the buildings in his compound or the blood pouring down its' drain.
Prendick finally learns the horrific truth. The island's inhabitants are the results of Moreau's efforts to speed up the Evolutionary process. Through a combination of vivisection and hypnosis, he shapes animals into crude humans in his laboratory (the aptly named House of Pain) and drills into them the laws not to drink blood, eat flesh, or walk on all fours. Indifferent to their torment, he will continue shaping and re-shaping them until they become perfect men.
Moreau never gets the chance to complete his experiments. A panther escapes from the House of Pain and kills him. Prendick is forced to watch the beast-men slowly lose what traces of humanity they had and regress back into animals. In the end, Prendick does return to England, but can no longer live comfortably among his fellow humans. Despite all the trappings of civilization, he can only see animal savagery lurking underneath.
Disturbing without resorting to explicit gore, 'The Island of Dr. Moreau'� was reviled by critics and readers. It also added fuel to the vivisectionist debate (the British Union for the Abolition of Vivisection was formed two years later). Unfazed by the controversy, Wells promptly set to work on his next novel.

Perhaps wisely, Wells decided to take a lighter approach for his latest story. Another overreaching scientist probes the unknown with humorous, yet ultimately grim, results. 'The Invisible Man'� was published in 1897.
A heavily bandaged stranger causes no end to the gossip when he arrives in the village of Iping. The gossip is further fueled by a rash of robberies where the culprit remains unseen. The stranger is revealed not only to be the thief, but to be completely invisible. The village erupts in panic as he makes his escape. He ends up at the home of country physician Dr. Kemp. The stranger reveals himself to be Griffin, a former colleague of Kemp's. Presumably motivated by the ridicule he has received from being an albino, Griffin has discovered a drug that renders him transparent to the naked eye.
At first, Griffin thinks he has the power to go anywhere and do anything he wants. But he soon learns even an invisible man has his limitations. Going around naked leaves him vulnerable to the elements. He must stay out of sight for at least an hour after eating. His outline can be seen in the rain and fog. Mud and soot will cling to him. And in thick crowds, he runs the risk of being trampled. After recounting his misadventures to Kemp, he recruits him for his plan to become a revolutionary force in the world.
But for reasons Wells never makes clear, be it a lust for power or a side effect of the drug, Griffin becomes a megalomaniac and his plans for revolution devolve into a reign of terror. Kemp betrays him to the authorities, and Griffin vows to make him his first victim, serving as an example for those that would defy him. But in the end, Griffin becomes the victim, crying for mercy as a mob tears him apart. He regains visibility as he dies, his face contorted with anger and dismay.

In the mid 1890's, astronomer Percival Lowell published his observations and theories about the planet Mars. Describing a network of 'canals'� connected by circular 'oases'� on the planet's surface, he suggested that they were used to distribute water from its' polar icecap. This caused great speculation about whether life existed on the red planet. Inspired for his next book, Wells elevated survival of the fittest to an interplanetary scale in a dark satire of Britain's Imperialist ventures in the underdeveloped countries. It was published in 1898 as 'The War of the Worlds.'�
The anonymous narrator tells of a mysterious cylinder that crash lands in the countryside outside Woking one summer evening. A crowd gathers around the new curiosity the next day, but horror erupts when a large, tentacled creature emerges and a heat ray incinerates anyone and anything within its' reach. Soon other cylinders land, containing massive war machines armed with heat rays and poisonous black smoke.
Driving the monstrous tripods are the Martians, seeking to colonize Earth. A much older race, they have evolved into little more than crawling heads. Beings of pure intellect, they view humans no better than the British viewed jungle natives, or perhaps more appropriately, butchers view cattle. For the Martians are cosmic vampires that drain blood from their living victims and inject it into themselves.
The narrator can only watch as the Martians crush all opposition and reshape Earth through the spreading of their home world's red weed. A shaken minister considers the Martians God's judgment on sinful man, while an army deserter brags of creating a new society and rebuilding man's strength- when not scavenging homes for the upper class amenities the military denied him. But the narrator presses on, heading straight into London. There he finds the invasion at a dead stop. The Martians have been defeated by common Earth bacteria which they have no immunity against. The nightmare ends and man emerges from it more aware, watching for other possible threats and wondering if he himself might evolve into such a creature.
'The War of the Worlds'� was another success for Wells and had an impact that is still felt today. All alien invaders since- whether in literature, comics, film or television- owe a debt of gratitude to the Martians which paved the way for them.

Wells focused his attention on a closer neighbor of Earth's for his next story. Of course, what he wrote about it has since been proven inaccurate. Yet 'The First Men in the Moon,'� published in 1901, remains an imaginative read.
A failed businessman named Bedford retires to the countryside to write a play. There he becomes involved in the experiments of his neighbor, the eccentric Professor Cavor. Cavor has discovered a substance which causes any object it coats to repel gravity. Bedford sees the Cavorite (as the substance is named) as the means to recoup his business losses, but Cavor has a further reaching goal: using it in a manned lunar expedition. Bedford reluctantly agrees to accompany him.
The pair construct a huge sphere covered with Cavorite coated blinds. By opening and closing certain blinds at certain intervals, the sphere's speed and trajectory can be controlled. Stocked with supplies, they climb into the sphere, close the blinds, and fly off into space. Floating weightless and struggling with boredom, the pair eventually reach the moon. They land on the darkened surface surrounded by mounds of frozen atmosphere and countless seeds.
At dawn, the atmosphere melts and dissipates, causing the seeds to sprout into dense plant life. The pair leap around in the surface's light gravity but are driven into hiding by the appearance of giant, bellowing, worm-like beasts, dubbed Mooncalves, and anthropomorphic ant beings, the Selenites. The starving pair feast on intoxicating mushrooms, but as Bedford drunkenly claims the moon for the British Empire, they are captured by the Selenites.
In the phosphorous subterranean caverns, Cavor is impressed by the Selenite's advanced technology, while Bedford can only see the abundant gold. Escaping their captors (an easy task since they discover Earthlings are physically stronger), the pair argue over their next course of action. Cavor wants to try communicating with the Selenites and show they mean no harm, but Bedford wants to escape back to Earth (which as much gold as they can take) and return with armed reinforcements. Hunted relentlessly, Cavor finally agrees to flee the moon.
Fighting their way through the tunnels, the pair reach the surface. With the sun setting and the vegetation dying around them, they search frantically for the sphere before the atmosphere freezes. Bedford finds the sphere first and fills it with gold, then tries to find Cavor, but finds a scrawled, blood-streaked note stating their pursuers have found him. Climbing into the sphere, Bedford shoots through space in a delirium until he lands on a beach outside Littlestone, England. As incredulous villagers help him carry his gold to a nearby inn, a boy climbs into the sphere and flies off, never heard from again. Bedford grieves for Cavor- then uses his gold to replenish his fortune and sells his story to a magazine.
But Cavor turns out to be alive and well, and is something of a celebrity among the Selenites. Transmitting through an interplanetary telegraph, he gives details of the lunar civilization. Bedford dutifully records every word, planning to publish his messages in book form. The Selenite civilization is a kind of super ant hill. Each member is mentally conditioned from birth to a certain task and physically altered to perform it and nothing else. When the task is completed, they are placed in a state of torpor until they are needed again.
Cavor is granted an audience with the Grand Lunar- the massive brained ruler of the moon that is curious to hear of life on Earth. He listens as Cavor explains such alien concepts as houses, poverty, class struggle, nations, and war. The Grand Lunar and all the Selenites are clearly disturbed that man is such a disorganized, violent being and fear he might spread his violence to the moon. In his last transmission, Cavor desperately tries to send the formula for Cavorite, but is abruptly stopped and never heard from again.

By now, Wells was growing tired of being seen as just a writer of fantastic stories. As mentioned earlier, he joined the socialist Fabian Society in 1903, but felt the group had lost it's focus and spent his years there in an aggressive (and unsuccessful) bid for leadership that did not make him very popular. Readers still clamored for his scientific romances, and in 1904 he released his last: 'The Food of the Gods.'�
Two scientists, Bensington and Redwood, have been conducting research into the growth process of plants and animals. They create a chemical nutrient that acts as a super growth stimulant. Setting up an experimental farm in the countryside, the pair feed the substance to chicks, which become giants in a matter of days.
Unfortunately, rats and wasps also consume the substance and the giant vermin wreak havoc. The giant chickens soon escape and overrun a nearby village, only to be shot by local hunters. Aided by a civil engineer named Cossar, Bensington and Redwood accept responsibility for the mayhem by disposing of the rats and wasps and torching the experimental farm.
It is then revealed that Redwood has been mixing the substance into his baby's bottle. The child not only grows, but becomes addicted to the point that taking him off of it would be lethal. Other children are fed the substance, including Cossar's three sons and the princess of a European royal house. The 'Children of the Food'� eventually grow to forty feet in height and are considered physically and mentally superior to 'The Little People,'� simply on the basis of their size.
All of England fears and mistrusts the giants thanks to an opportunistic politician, 'Jack the Giant Killer'� Caterham. The giants try to prove themselves useful by building great roads and houses (regardless of whose property rights they violate), but this only gets them restricted from society. Redwood's son then causes a scandal when he and the giant princess fall in love.
Finally a young giant named Caddles walks into London, curious to see the world he was excluded from, having been forced at an early age to spend his life working in a chalk pit. The bewildered Caddles demands to know what 'The Little People'� are for and where he fits in. The only answer he receives is the fatal gunfire of the police.
The conflict quickly reaches the boiling point and the army is dispatched to eliminate the remaining giants, only to be beaten back. 'The Little People'� then offer to relocate the giants on a remote reservation somewhere in North America, if they agree not to procreate or distribute the substance to anyone else. The 'Children of the Food'� refuse and prepare for all-out war, declaring to be fighting for all forms of growth. Unhindered by petty small-mindedness, they will continue growing until they become (as the book's title suggests) gods. Whether or not they succeed is left unclear.
'The Food of the Gods'� was not very successful and is not as well remembered as the other scientific romances, yet it does maintain an impact. Any normal sized animal or person that was ever enlarged and went on a rampage, in any medium, harkens back to Wells' tale of gigantism gone amuck.

Wells spent his remaining years promoting Socialism. He wrote propaganda fantasies such as 'In the Days of the Comet'� in 1906 and 'The Shape of Things to Come'� in 1933, but these lacked the imagination and appeal of his earlier works. He made two unsuccessful attempts to run for Parliament as a member of the Labor Party in 1922 and 1923. And he outlined his ideas of the perfect society in works like 'A Modern Utopia'� in 1905, in which dissidents that did not contribute to that perfect society (invalids, the mentally ill, the retarded, the handicapped, and inferior races) were to be secluded, if not eliminated. Needless to say, it was not well received.
His beloved scientific romances enjoyed a revival in the 1930s, starting with two movies hailed today as genre classics. Paramount adapted 'The Island of Dr. Moreau'� as 'The Island of Lost Souls'� in 1933, directed by Erle C. Kenton. Featuring Charles Laughton as a leering, sadistic Moreau and Bela Lugosi as The Sayer of the Law, the movie mirrored the book's controversy when it was banned in England. While at Universal that same year, director James Whale brought his offbeat humor to 'The Invisible Man.'� It boasted a maniacal performance by Claude Rains as Griffin and groundbreaking special effects by John P. Fulton, and wisely abandoned earlier concepts of an invisible octopus and invisible rats. Wells was taken with conveying messages through film and supervised (and wrote the screenplay for) the 1936 adaptation of 'The Shape of Things to Come,'� titled simply 'Things to Come.'� The movie seems largely forgotten today.
In 1938, Wells gave permission for 'The War of the Worlds'� to be adapted for radio by the Mercury Theater on the Air, headed by Orson Welles. Thinking it would be a straight forward version, he was outraged to learn the Halloween broadcast was a modernized retelling (by future 'Casablanca'� screenwriter Howard Koch) masquerading as a news program covering the Martians landing in New Jersey. He was even more outraged when it had sent roughly one million listeners into hysteria, causing packed freeways, suicide attempts and armed citizens to open fire on water towers, convinced they were Martian tripods. Nervous about the events in Europe and the impending war, American listeners seemed all too ready to panic. Some even believed it was the Germans that were invading, not Martians. Fortunately, time healed Wells' wounds and, meeting Welles for the first time during a Texas radio interview in 1940, the two men were able to talk amiably about it.
The end of World War II brought joy to most, but Wells was devastated. The world was nowhere near the utopian paradise he had struggled for, and the science which he hoped would help bring it about had instead produced a new weapon: the atomic bomb. His last work was a diatribe against man's future, aptly titled, 'Mind at the End of its' Tether.'� He died on August 13, 1946.

Evolution teaches that man is in constant flux, at the whim of nature. Whatever benefits man enjoys are fleeting, to be replaced by something totally different. Herbert George Wells struggled with that, which may explain why a man that held such hope for the future could write such grim works. He may not have been able to change the world the way he had hoped, but change it he did by sharing his imagination and showing science fiction's promises and perils.

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