Happy birthday to H.G. Wells, born September 21, 1866. It would be hard to quantify the impact that ol’ Herbert George had on science fiction, science and technology, and even politics and culture. As with many sci-fi writers, I’m certain that countless scientists and engineers decided to go into their field inspired by his fantastic tales which often seemed just out of reach, somewhere on the horizon.
I still remember the wonder and palpable sense of “this has GOT to be possible” I got while reading The Time Machine, The First Men in the Moon, The Invisible Man, and others of his books as a kid. He shared that gift with Verne (though Verne was perhaps more rigorous with his sci-tech speculations). They also share the title of “Father of Science Fiction.”
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