H. G. Wells
English writer and prophetic social critic.
Herbert George Wells (21 September 1866 – 13 August 1946) was an English writer prolific in many genres, including science fiction, social commentary, history, and popular science. He is most known today for his groundbreaking science fiction novels and has sometimes been called the 'father of science fiction,' a title also given to Jules Verne and Hugo Gernsback. Wells was also a prominent forward-looking social critic who devoted his literary talents to a progressive global vision.
Wells wrote more than forty novels and dozens of short stories, alongside non-fiction covering social commentary, politics, history, popular science, satire, biography, and autobiography. His science fiction imagined time travel, alien invasion, invisibility, and biological engineering before these were common in the genre, and he foresaw developments such as aircraft, tanks, space travel, nuclear weapons, satellite television, and something resembling the World Wide Web. He rendered his works convincing by instilling commonplace detail alongside a single extraordinary assumption per work, a technique Joseph Conrad hailed as “O Realist of the Fantastic!” 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 the dystopian *When the Sleeper Wakes* (1910). Novels of social realism such as *Kipps* (1905) and *The History of Mr Polly* (1910) depicted lower-middle-class English life, leading some to consider him a successor to Charles Dickens, while *Tono-Bungay* (1909) attempted a diagnosis of English society as a whole. Wells was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times. His earliest specialised training was in biology, and his ethical thinking occurred in a Darwinian context. He was an outspoken socialist from a young age, often sympathising with pacifist views. For much of his adult life he advocated eugenics and involuntary euthanasia, arguing for the “sterilisation of failure” as necessary for socialism, a view he largely recanted by 1940. In later years he wrote less fiction and more political and social works, sometimes identifying as a journalist. A diabetic, he co-founded The Diabetic Association (Diabetes UK) in 1934.
- born
- 21 September 1866
- died
- 13 August 1946
- field
- Writer, social critic, futurist
- nationality
- English
- known_for
- Science fiction novels such as The Time Machine, The War of the Worlds, and The Invisible Man; prophetic social commentary
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
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