H. G. Wells (1866-1946) was an English writer often called one of the fathers of science fiction. In a few years he wrote The Time Machine, The Island of Doctor Moreau, The Invisible Man and The War of the Worlds. He was also a novelist of ordinary life, a popular historian and a passionate campaigner for social reform.
Works
The Time Machine, The Invisible Man, The War of the Worlds
From shop to science
Herbert George Wells was born in 1866 in Bromley, Kent. His family was poor, and he was apprenticed to a draper, work he hated.
A scholarship took him to the Normal School of Science in London, where he studied biology under Thomas Henry Huxley, Darwin's great defender.
The scientific romances
The Time Machine (1895) imagines a journey to a distant future where humanity has split into two species. The War of the Worlds (1898) describes an invasion of England by Martians.
Wells called these books scientific romances. They use science to raise questions about society, evolution and the future of humanity.
Wells also wrote comic and social novels, such as Kipps and The History of Mr Polly, and a very successful Outline of History (1920).
He met world leaders, argued for a world government and helped draft a declaration of human rights during the Second World War.
Anecdotes
The radio panic
In 1938 Orson Welles adapted The War of the Worlds for American radio as a series of fake news bulletins. Some listeners were reportedly frightened, and the broadcast became legendary.
An epitaph of his own
Late in life, Wells joked that his epitaph should say that he had warned people, and that they had not listened.
Frequently asked questions
Why is Wells called a father of science fiction?
For novels such as The Time Machine and The War of the Worlds.
Who taught him biology?
Thomas Henry Huxley.
When did he die?
In London, in 1946.