H. G. Wells

Lore & Background

Herbert George Wells was born at Atlas House in Bromley, Kent, the fourth child of Joseph Wells, a shopkeeper and professional cricketer, and Sarah Neal, a former domestic servant. A broken leg at age eight led him to reading books from the local library, sparking his desire to write. After an unhappy apprenticeship as a draper, he became a pupil–teacher and later won a scholarship to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science in London. These years began his interest in social reform, influenced by Plato's Republic and the Fabian Society.

Reader's Guide

Wells rendered his works convincing by instilling commonplace detail alongside a single extraordinary assumption per work, a technique dubbed 'Wells's law.' His most notable science fiction includes The Time Machine (1895), The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897), The War of the Worlds (1898), The War in the Air (1907), and When the Sleeper Wakes (1910). He also wrote social realist novels such as Kipps and The History of Mr Polly, leading some to suggest he was a worthy successor to Charles Dickens. Wells was a lifelong socialist and advocate of eugenics, a view he largely recanted by 1940. He co-founded The Diabetic Association in 1934 and was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.

Did You Know?

• Wells co-founded The Diabetic Association (now Diabetes UK) in 1934.
• He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times.
• His earliest specialised training was in biology, studying under Thomas Henry Huxley.
• Wells foresaw the advent of aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite television, and something resembling the World Wide Web.

Notable Quotes (Wikiquote)

"How small the vastest of human catastrophes may seem at a distance of a few million miles." — H. G. Wells "We were making the future," he said, "and hardly any of us troubled to think what future we were making. And here it is!" — H. G. Wells "The past is but the beginning of a beginning, and all that is or has been is but the twilight of the dawn." — H. G. Wells "Great and little cannot understand one another. But in every child born of man, Father Redwood, lurks some seed of greatness — waiting for the Food." — H. G. Wells