Science’s Influence on H.G. Wells

“Queen Victoria was like a great paper-weight that for half a century sat upon men’s minds, and when she was removed their ideas began to blow about all over the place haphazardly” – H.G. Wells

H.G. Well’s was the first professional writer with a formal scientific education concerned with the role of science in society. Well’s stories have symbolic power. His stories had images, theories and facts that usually never had any systematic relation with each other. The Time Machine is often referred to as his “peculiar treasure.” His stories which are rich in symbolism also posses a dreamlike structure; therefore, he presents an idea of dual personality.
In his works, three important aspects influenced the way he perceived the world. The first was his brooding sense of collapse. The second was his childhood religion. He viewed mans place in nature as precarious. The third was Huxley’s evolutionary theory and Kelvin’s law of entropy.

While married to his second wife, Jane, Wells traveled to America. The pessimistic view of the nineteenth century had lead to different mood in America. Therefore, in Well’s perspective the future was uncertain, but full of opportunities.

One of Well’s pieces, The War of the Worlds, became so popular that it was broadcasted on the radio. Despite the fact that Well’s work was fiction, many listeners had fearful reactions. The religious thought the world was coming to an end, the Jewish thought the Nazis had attacked, families frantically contacted each other in order to face doomsday together. After hearing the listener’s reactions, Wells was furious with the capacity of his work to terrify people.

In 1942, Well’s published his last comprehensive statement of his collective ideas titled The Outlook of Homo Sapiens. It is a combination between his previous works The Fate of Homo Sapiens and The New World Order. This combination work proved that World War II had not changed his diagnosis of the world situation.

Before his death, he read an article in a journal that he had written 50 years before and claimed that he had no desire to change a word of it. On August 13th 1946, he went to take his usual nap and past away in his sleep. His confidence with his work right before his death proves him to be one of the greatest prophets of our time.