8/11/2019 Masina Timpului Herbert George Wells

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Herbert George Wells (1866-1946)

Herbert George Wells, the son of an unsuccessful tradesman, was born in Bromley on 21stSeptember, 1866. After a basic education at a local school, Wells was apprenticed as a draper. Wellsdisliked the work and in 188 became a pupil!teacher at "idhurst #rammar School. While at "idhurstWells won a scholarship to the School of Science where he was tau$ht biolo$y by %. &. &u'ley. Wellsfound &u'ley an inspirin$ teacher and as a result de(eloped a stron$ interest in e(olution. Wellsfounded and edited the Science Schools Journalwhile at uni(ersity. Wells was disappointin$ with theteachin$ he recei(ed in the second year and so in 188) he left without obtainin$ a de$ree.

Wells spent the ne't few years teachin$ and writin$ and in 18*1 his ma+or essay on science, TheRediscovery of the Unique, was published in The Fortnightly Review. n 18*- Wells establishedhimself as a no(elist in 18*- with his science fiction story, The Time Machine. %his was followed bytwo more successful no(els, The Island of Dr. Moreau18*6/ and The ar of the orlds18*8/.

Wells also became (ery popular in the 0nited States. %he popular ma$aine !osmo"olitanserialisedtwo of his books, The ar of the orlds18*)/ and First Man in the Moon1*/. &is work alsoappeared in !ollier#s Maga$ine, the %ew Re"u&licand theSaturday 'vening (ost.

Wells also be$an writin$ non!fiction books about politics, technolo$y and the future. %his included)ntici"ations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific (rogress U"on *uman +ife and Thought1*1/, The Discovery of the Future1*2/ and Man,ind in the Ma,ing1*/. %hese booksimpressed the three leaders of the 3abian Society,#eor$e Bernard Shaw, Sidney Webb and BeatriceWebb.Wells accepted their su$$estion that he should +oin the society.

4nce a member of the 3abian Society, Wells tried to chan$e it. 5ather than a small $roup ofintellectuals discussin$ socialist reform, Wells thou$ht that it should be a lar$e pressure $roupa$itatin$ for chan$e. When the e'istin$ leadership resisted these ideas, Wells attempted to $aincontrol of the or$anisation. Wells mana$ed to $ain election to the 3abian Societys 7'ecuti(eommittee but $ained little support for chan$e from the rest of the $roup.

Wells resi$ned from the 3abian Societyin 1*8 but continued to be acti(e in the campai$n forsocialism. &is book) Modern Uto"iae'pressed a desire for a society that was run and or$anised byhumanistic and well!educated people. Wells, who was e'tremely critical of the role that pri(ile$e andhereditary factors in capitalist society and in his utopia, people $ain power as a result of theirintelli$ence and trainin$.

n his early scientific writin$s Wells predicted the in(ention of modern weapons such as the tank andthe atom bomb. &e was therefore horrified by the outbreak of the 3irst World War. 0nlike many

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socialists, he supported Britains in(ol(ement in the war, howe(er, he belie(ed politicians should usethis opportunity to create a new world order.

Wells was encoura$ed by the news of the communist re(olution in 5ussia. &e (isited the country andlectured 9enin and %rotsky on how they should run their country. Wells was disillusioned by what hesaw in 5ussia and in 1*2 Wells published The -utline of *istory. %he book described human historysince the earliest times and attempted to show how society had e(ol(ed to the present state. Wellsillustrated the triumphs and failures and pointed out the dan$ers that faced the human race. %he maintheme of The -utline of *istorywas that the world would be sa(ed by education and not by re(olution.

Wells book was widely discussed and the abrid$ed (ersion,) Short *istory of the orld, published in1*22, sold in lar$e numbers. Wells was now considered to be one of the worlds most importantpolitical thinkers and durin$ the 1*2s and s he was in $reat demand as a contributor tonewspapers and +ournals. n his books and articles &. #. Wells ar$ued that society had reached thesta$e where it needed world $o(ernment and stron$ly supported the 9ea$ue of :ationsthat wasestablished after the 3irst World War. Wells also stressed that society needed to establish structuresthat ensured that the most intelli$ent $ained power. Some socialists criticised Wells claimin$ that hewas now preachin$ a form of elitism.

n his no(el The Sha"e of Things to !omepublished in 1*, Wells describes a world that had been

de(astated by decades of war and was now bein$ rebuilt by the use of humanistic technolo$y. n 1*6the book was turned into a (ery successful film.

n 1*; Wells (isited the So(iet 0nionand the 0nited States. Althou$h Wells clearly preferred what5oose(elt was tryin$ to do, some people belie(ed he was far too sympathetic to Stalin. 4ne of hismain critics was his old ad(ersary at the 3abian Society, #eor$e Bernard Shaw.

Wells was appalled by the outbreak of the Second World Warand wrote e'tensi(ely about the need tomake sure that we used the conflict to establish a new, rational world order. Herbert George Wellsdied on 1th Au$ust, 1*;6, while workin$ on a pro+ect that dealt with the dan$ers of nuclear war.

(1) Beatrice Webb, diary entry (19th April, 194)

We had a couple of days with &. #. Wells and his wife at Sand$ate, and they are returnin$ the(isit here. We like him (ery much ! he is absolutely $enuine and full of in(enti(eness, aspeculator in ideas, somewhat of a $ambler but perfectly aware that his hypotheses are not(erified. n one sense he is a romancer spoilt by romancin$, but in the present sta$e ofsociolo$y he is useful to $rad$rinds like oursel(es in supplyin$ us with loose $eneraliationswhich we can use as instruments of research.

(!) H" G" Wells, New Worlds for Old(198)

%he Socialist asks/ what freedom is there today for the (ast ma+ority of mankind< %hey arefree to do nothin$ but work for a bare subsistence all their li(es, they may not $o freely aboutthe earth e(en, but are prosecuted for trespassin$ upon the health!$i(in$ breast of ouruni(ersal mother. onsider the clerks and $irls who hurry to their work of a mornin$ across

Brooklyn Brid$e in :ew =ork, or &un$erford Brid$e in 9ondon> $o and see them, study theirfaces. %hey are free, with a freedom Socialism would destroy. onsider the poor painted $irlswho pursue bread with nameless indi$nities throu$h our streets at ni$ht. %hey are free by thecurrent standard. And the poor half!star(ed wretches stru$$lin$ with the impossible stint ofoakum in a casual ward, they too are free? %he nimble footman is free, the crushed porterbetween the trucks is free, the woman in the mill, the child in the mine. Ask them? %hey will tellyou how free they are.

(#) H" G" Wells, New Worlds for Old(198)

%hat Anarchist world, admit, is our dream> we do belie(e ! well, , at any rate, belie(e thispresent world, this planet, will some day bear a race beyond our most e'alted and temerarious

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soprano in his speech. %he handicap of a hi$h!pitched (oice that sueaked when he $otwound up was easily imitated and ridiculed.

(8) 3le$ent Attlee,s "t #appened(19/4)

remember (ery well the first 3abian Society meetin$ we attended at 7sse' &all. %he platformseemed to be full of bearded men Aylmer "aude, William Sanders, Sidney Webb and BernardShaw. said to my brother, C&a(e we $ot to $row a beard to +oin this show. &. #. Wells was onthe platform, speakin$ with a little pipin$ (oice> he was (ery unimpressi(e.

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