The Time Machine (H.G. Wells)

First published in 1895, ‘The Time Machine’ is a science fiction novella by H.G. Wells, an English writer. Excellent in many genres, he wrote dozens of novels, short stories, and works of social commentary, history, satire, biography, and autobiography. Wells crafts a striking and haunting picture of an earth some 800,000 years into the future. He is typically credited with the popularization of the notion of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel deliberately and selectively forwards or backwards in time. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now universally used to direct to such a vehicle. The Time Machine has been adapted into three feature films of the same name, as well as two television versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It has also indirectly inspired many more works of fiction in many media productions.

H.G. Wells (Herbert George, 1866) was born to a working class family in Kent, England. Young Wells received a spotty education, interrupted by several illnesses and family difficulties, and became a draper's apprentice as a teenager. The headmaster of Midhurst Grammar School, where he had spent a year, arranged for him to return as an 'usher', or student teacher. Wells earned a government scholarship in 1884, to study biology under Thomas Henry Huxley at the Normal School of Science. Wells earned his bachelor of science and doctor of science degrees at the University of London. After marrying his cousin, Isabel, Wells began to supplement his teaching salary with short stories and freelance articles, then books, including 'The Time Machine' (1895), 'The Island of Dr. Moreau' (1896), 'The Invisible Man' (1897), and 'The War of the Worlds' (1898). Wells created a mild scandal when he divorced his cousin to marry one of his best students, Amy Catherine Robbins. Although his second marriage was lasting and produced two sons. His 100 books included many novels, as well as non-fiction, such as 'A Modern Utopia' (1905), 'The Outline of History' (1920), 'A Short History of the World' (1922), 'The Shape of Things to Come' (1933), and 'The Work, Wealth and Happiness of Mankind' (1932). Wells used his international fame to promote his favorite causes, including the prevention of war, and was received by government officials around the world. He is best remembered as an early writer of science fiction and futurism.