James Baquet

    Each week, I try to bring you a scientist, an artist, and a writer (though sometimes a statesman is mixed in there) all born around the same time. This week, the “writer” was also an artist and natural scientist, and the “scientist” was actually a writer! H. G. Wells (1866-1946) is best known as the author of such blockbuster science fiction novels as “The Time Machine” (1895), “The Island of Doctor Moreau” (1896), “The Invisible Man” (1897), and “The War of the Worlds” (1898). But aside from this, he was also a trained scientist.

    Herbert George Wells was the last of four children in his family. Around the age of 12, young “Bertie” (as he was called) broke his leg, and was bedridden for some time. His father (a shopkeeper and professional cricketer) brought him books from the local library, beginning his love of the world of books, and instilling in him the desire to become a writer.

    His first job was as a pupil-teacher, essentially an older student who helps the younger ones. A number of menial jobs followed, until at last — again working in a school — he obtained a scholarship to the Normal School of Science. (This later became the Royal College of Science, and is now part of Imperial College London.)

    At the Normal School, he studied under T.H. Huxley, who had been such a staunch defender of Charles Darwin that he became known as “Darwin’s Bulldog.” Wells took a degree in biology, and his first published work was a two-volume textbook of biology.

    He wrote other works aside from the titles named above (called then “scientific romances” and which earned him, along with other writers like Jules Verne, the title of “Father of Science Fiction”). There were more realistic novels, and perhaps his most famous work, the “Outline of History” in two volumes.

    Wells was also active in social causes. He was a member of the socialist Fabian Society (though he later turned against them), and wrote about issues such as race and class in ways that reflect a modern sensibility.

    Vocabulary:

    Which word above means:

    1. a hugely successful film or book

    2. creating, putting into

    3. lowly, humble

    4. following a system that puts ownership and control of goods into hands of the whole community

    5. not able to be seen

    6. politician or other government leader

    7. awareness or appreciation

    8. firm, steadfast, strong

    9. confined to bed by injury or illness

    10. a metaphor for “someone who fights fiercely”