Historical Figures Codexery

H. G. Wells

English writer and prophetic social critic.

The Australian Broadcasting Corporation notes that Wells changed how the public understood science.[1] The English writer Herbert George Wells, who lived from 21 September 1866 to 13 August 1946, is most famous today for his innovative science fiction novels, a genre in which he is sometimes called a founding figure alongside Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback.[2] Wells authored over forty novels and many short stories, and also produced nonfiction covering social commentary, politics, and history.[2]

Quick Facts

Birth name
Herbert George Wells
Born
21 September 1866
Birthplace
Bromley, Kent, England
Died
13 August 1946
Place of death
London, England
Occupation
  • Novelist
  • teacher
  • historian
  • journalist
Education
Royal College of Science
Years active
1887–1946

Facts from the source article.

Life and work

Wells was born in Bromley, Kent, the fourth child of Joseph Wells, a shopkeeper and professional cricketer, and Sarah Neal.[3] His father's cricket career ended after fracturing his femur in 1877, leaving the family unable to support themselves.[4] He later won a scholarship to the Normal School of Science in London, studying biology under Thomas Henry Huxley.[5] He published his first novel, The Time Machine, in 1895.[6]

Wells married his cousin Isabel Mary Wells in 1891, but they separated in 1894 when he fell in love with student Amy Catherine Robbins.[7] He had multiple love affairs, including with novelist Rebecca West, with whom he had a son in 1914.[8][9] A two-volume Text-Book of Biology, released in 1893, was the first work Wells ever had published.[10] The Diabetic Association (now Diabetes UK) was co-founded by Wells in 1934.[11]

What the cited sources add

The Smithsonian Magazine article states that Wells was trained as a scientist, a rarity among his literary contemporaries.[12] Simon James, head of English Studies at Durham University, explains that Wells's imagination was "in a hurry" and that he wanted to reach the future sooner.[12] The same article notes that Wells recognized the world-changing destructive power of splitting the atom.[12] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation reports that Wells's son Anthony West said his father thought science was "a dangerous business"[1]

The Smithsonian Magazine adds that Wells started a campaign for universal human rights after World War II broke out.[12] The Australian Broadcasting Corporation mentions that Wells wrote an extensive guide to biology in 1930 with his son G.P. Wells and Julian Huxley.[1]

References

  1. "H. G. Wells – father of science fiction with hopes and fears for how science will shape our future", Australian Broadcasting Corporation. facts only, no text reused. abc.net.au
  2. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Roberts, "Science Fiction", Psychology Press, 2000, p. 48; "H. G. Wells – father of science fiction with hopes and fears for how science will shape our future", Australian Broadcasting Corporation (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  3. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wheen, "A Modern Utopia", Penguin Classics, 2005 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Sep. 21, 1866: Wells Springs Forth", 9 October 2017 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Smith, "H. G. Wells: Desperately Mortal: A Biography", Yale University Press, 1986, p. 35 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Hammond, "H. G. Wells's The Time Machine: A Reference Guide", Praeger, 2004, p. 50 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  7. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "They Did What? 15 Famous People Who Actually Married Their Cousins" (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lynn, "Shadow Lovers: The Last Affairs of H. G. Wells", Westview, 2001, p. 10; 14; 47 et sec (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  9. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Arnim, Mary Annette [May] von [née Mary Annette Beauchamp; known as Elizabeth von Arnim; other married name Mary Annette Russell, Countess Russell] (1866–1941), novelist", 2004; Liukkonen, "H. G. Wells", Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi); "The Passionate Friends: H. G. Wells and Margaret Sanger", at the Margaret Sanger Paper Project. (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  10. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Hampstead: Education", A History of the County of Middlesex, 1989, p. 159–169; Liukkonen, "A. A. Milne", Books and Writers (kirjasto.sci.fi); "H. G. Wells Under Revision: Proceedings of the International H. G. Wells Symposium, London, July 1986", Associated University Presse, 1990, p. 123] (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "H. G. Wells" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "H. G. Wells: Early Writings in Science and Science Fiction", University of California Press, 1975, p. 179; "H. G. Wells' politics", British Library; "H. G. Wells", United States Holocaust Memorial Museum; Partington, "H.G. Wells's Eugenic Thinking of the 1930s and 1940s", Utopian Studies, 2003, p. 74–81; Brome, "H. G. Wells: A Biography", Longmans, Green, 1951, p. 99; "H. G. Wells – Author, Historian, Teacher with Type 2 Diabetes", www.diabetes.co.uk, 15 January 2019 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Handwerk, "The Many Futuristic Predictions of H.G. Wells That Came True", Smithsonian Magazine, 21 September 2016. facts only, no text reused. smithsonianmag.com

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article H. G. Wells (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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