The Time Machine: An Invention / Edition 1

by H. G. Wells, Nicholas Ruddick

Overview

Wells was interested in the implications of evolutionary theory on the future of human beings at the biological, sociological, and cultural levels, and The Time Machine, short and readable, draws on many of the social and scientific debates of the time. The Broadview edition of this science fiction classic includes extensive materials on Wells’s scientific and political influences.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781551113050
Publisher:	Broadview Press
Publication date:	02/12/2001
Series:	Broadview Literary Texts Series
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	300
Sales rank:	990,334
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.50(h) x 0.56(d)

About the Author

Nicholas Ruddick is a professor of English at the University of Regina, is the author of Ultimate Island: On the Nature of British Science Fiction, and other critical works on science fiction.

Date of Birth:

September 21, 1866

Date of Death:

August 13, 1946

Place of Birth:

Bromley, Kent, England

Place of Death:

London, England

Education:

Normal School of Science, London, England

Read an Excerpt

The Time Machine

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By Wells, H. G.

Tor Classics

Copyright © 1992 Wells, H. G.
All right reserved.
ISBN: 9780812505047

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1
 
The Time Traveller (for so it will be convenient to speak of him) was expounding a recondite matter to us. His grey eyes shone and twinkled, and his usually pale face was flushed and animated. The fire burned brightly, and the soft radiance of the incandescent lights in the lilies of silver caught the bubbles that flashed and passed in our glasses. Our chairs, being his patents, embraced and caressed us rather than submitted to be sat upon, and there was that luxurious after-dinner atmosphere when thought runs gracefully free of the trammels of precision. And he put it to us in this way--marking the points with a lean forefinger--as we sat and lazily admired his earnestness over this new paradox (as we thought it:) and his fecundity.
"You must follow me carefully. I shall have to controvert one or two ideas that are almost universally accepted. The geometry, for instance, they taught you at school is founded on a misconception."
"Is not that rather a large thing to expect us to begin upon?" said Filby, an argumentative person with red hair.
"I do not mean to ask you to accept anything without reasonable ground for it. You will soon admit as much as I need from you. You know of course that a mathematical line, a line of thickness nil, has no real existence. They taught you that? Neither has a mathematical plane. These things are mere abstractions."
"That is all right," saidthe Psychologist.
"Nor, having only length, breadth, and thickness, can a cube have a real existence."
"There I object," said Filby. "Of course a solid body may exist. All real things--"
"So most people think. But wait a moment. Can an instantaneous cube exist?"
"Don't follow you," said Filby.
"Can a cube that does not last for any time at all, have a real existence?"
Filby became pensive. "Clearly," the Time Traveller proceeded, "any real body must have extension in four directions: it must have Length, Breadth, Thickness, and--Duration. But through a natural infirmity of the flesh, which I will explain to you in a moment, we incline to overlook this fact. There are really four dimensions, three which we call the three planes of Space, and a fourth, Time. There is, however, a tendency to draw an unreal distinction between the former three dimensions and the latter, because it happens that our consciousness moves intermittently in one direction along the latter from the beginning to the end of our lives."
"That," said a very young man, making spasmodic efforts to relight his cigar over the lamp; "that...very clear indeed."
"Now, it is very remarkable that this is so extensively overlooked," continued the Time Traveller, with a slight accession of cheerfulness. "Really this is what is meant by the Fourth Dimension, though some people who talk about the Fourth Dimension do not know they mean it. It is only another way of looking at Time. There is no difference between Time and any of the three dimensions of Space except that our consciousness moves along it. But some foolish people have got hold of the wrong side of that idea. You have all heard what they have to say about this Fourth Dimension?"
"I have not," said the Provincial Mayor.
"It is simply this. That Space, as our mathematicians have it, is spoken of as having three dimensions, which one may call Length, Breadth, and Thickness, and is always definable by reference to three planes, each at right angles to the others. But some philosophical people have been asking why three dimensions particularly--why not another direction at right angles to the other three?--and have even tried to construct a Four-Dimension geometry. Professor Simon Newcomb was expounding this to the New York Mathematical Society only a month or so ago. You know how on a flat surface, which has only two dimensions, we can represent a figure of a three-dimensional solid, and similarly they think that by models of three dimensions they could represent one of four--if they could master the perspective of the thing. See?"
"I think so," murmured the Provincial Mayor; and, knitting his brows, he lapsed into an introspective state, his lips moving as one who repeats mystic words. "Yes, I think I see it now," he said after some time, brightening in a quite transitory manner.
"Well, I do not mind telling you I have been at work upon this geometry of Four Dimensions for some time. Some of my results are curious. For instance, here is a portrait of a man at eight years old, another at fifteen, another at seventeen, another at twenty-three, and so on. All these are evidently sections, as it were, Three-Dimensional representations of his Four-Dimensioned being, which is a fixed and unalterable thing.
"Scientific people," proceeded the Time Traveller, after the pause required for the proper assimilation of this, "know very well that Time is only a kind of Space. Here is a popular scientific diagram, a weather record. This line I trace with my finger shows the movement of the barometer. Yesterday it was so high, yesterday night it fell, then this morning it rose again, and so gently upward to here. Surely the mercury did not trace this line in any of the dimensions of Space generally recognized? But certainly it traced such a line, and that line, therefore, we must conclude was along the Time-Dimension."
"But," said the Medical Man, staring hard at a coal in the fire, "if Time is really only a fourth dimension of Space, why is it, and why has it always been, regarded as something different? And why cannot we move in Time as we move about in the other dimensions of Space?"
The Time Traveller smiled. "Are you sure we can move freely in Space? Right and left we can go, backward and forward freely enough, and men always have done so. I admit we move freely in two dimensions. But how about up and down? Gravitation limits us there."
"Not exactly," said the Medical Man. "There are balloons."
"But before the balloons, save for spasmodic jumping and the inequalities of the surface, man had no freedom of vertical movement."
"Still they could move a little up and down," said the Medical Man.
"Easier, far easier down than up."
"And you cannot move at all in Time, you cannot get away from the present moment."
"My dear sir, that is just where you are wrong. That is just where the whole world has gone wrong. We are always getting away from the present movement. Our mental existences, which are immaterial and have no dimensions, are passing along the Time-Dimension with a uniform velocity from the cradle to the grave. Just as we should travel down if we began our existence fifty miles above the earth's surface."
"But the great difficulty is this," interrupted the Psychologist. "You can move about in all directions of Space, but you cannot move about in Time."
"That is the germ of my great discovery. But you are wrong to say that we cannot move about in Time. For instance, if I am recalling an incident very vividly I go back to the instant of its occurrence: I become absent-minded, as you say. I jump back for a moment. Of course we have no means of staying back for any length of Time, any more than a savage or an animal has of staying six feet above the ground. But a civilized man is better off than the savage in this respect. He can go up against gravitation in a balloon, and why should he not hope that ultimately he may be able to stop or accelerate his drift along the Time-Dimension, or even turn about and travel the other way?"
"Oh, this," began Filby, "is all---"
"Why not?" said the Time Traveller.
"It's against reason," said Filby.
"What reason?" said the Time Traveller.
"You can show black is white by argument," said Filby, "but you will never convince me."
"Possibly not," said the Time Traveller. "But now you begin to see the object of my investigations into the geometry of Four Dimensions. Long ago I had a vague inkling of a machine---"
"To travel through Time!" exclaimed the Very Young Man.
"That shall travel indifferently in any direction of Space and Time as the driver determines."
Filby contented himself with laughter.
"But I have experimental verification," said the Time Traveller.
"It would be remarkably convenient for the historian," the Psychologist suggested. "One might travel back and verify the accepted account of the Battle of Hastings, for instance!"
"Don't you think you would attract attention?" said the Medical Man. "Our ancestors had no great tolerance for anachronisms."
"One might get one's Greek from the very lips of Homer and Plato," the Very Young Man thought.
"In which case they would certainly plough you for the Little-go. The German Scholars have improved Greek so much."
"Then there is the future," said the Very Young Man. "Just think! One might invest all one's money, leave it to accumulate at interest, and hurry on ahead!"
"To discover a society," said I, "erected on a strictly communistic basis."
"Of all the wild extravagant theories!" began the Psychologist.
"Yes, so it seemed to me, and so I never talked of it until---"
"Experimental verification!" cried I. "You are going to verify that?"
"The experiment!" cried Filby, who was getting brain-weary.
"Let's see your experiment anyhow," said the Psychologist, "though it's all humbug, you know."
The Time Traveller smiled round at us. Then, still smiling faintly, and with his hands deep in his trousers pockets, he walked slowly out of the room, and we heard his slippers shuffling down the long passage to his laboratory.
The Psychologist looked at us. "I wonder what he's got?"
"Some sleight-of-hand trick or other," said the Medical Man, and Filby tried to tell us about a conjurer he had seen at Burslem; but before he had finished his preface the Time Traveller came back, and Filby's anecdote collapsed.
The thing the Time Traveller held in his hand was a glittering metallic framework, scarcely larger than a small clock, and very delicately made. There was ivory in it, and some transparent crystalline substance. And now I must be explicit, for this that follows--unless his explanation is to be accepted-is an absolutely unaccountable thing. He took one of the small octagonal tables that were scattered about the room, and set it in front of the fire, with two legs on the hearthrug. On this table he placed the mechanism. Then he drew up a chair, and sat down. The only other object on the table, was a small shaded lamp, the bright light of which fell upon the model. There were also perhaps a dozen candles about, two in brass candlesticks upon the mantel and several in sconces, so that the room was brilliantly illuminated. I sat in a low arm-chair nearest the fire, and I drew this forward so as to be almost between the Time Traveller and the fire-place. Filby sat behind him, looking over his shoulder. The Medical Man and the Provincial Mayor watched him in profile from the right, the Psychologist from the left. The Very Young Man stood behind the Psychologist. We were all on the alert. It appears incredible to me that any kind of trick, however subtly conceived and however adroitly done, could have been played upon us under these conditions.
The Time Traveller looked at us, and then at the mechanism. "Well?" said the psychologist.
"This little affair," said the Time Traveller, resting his elbows upon the table and pressing his hands together above the apparatus, "is only a model. It is my plan for a machine to travel through time. You will notice that it looks singularly askew, and that there is an odd twinkling appearance about this bar, as though it was in some way unreal." He pointed to the part with his finger. "Also, here is one little white lever, and here is another."
The Medical Man got up out of his chair and peered into the thing. "It's beautifully made," he said.
"It took two years to make," retorted the Time Traveller. Then, when we had all imitated the action of the Medical Man, he said: "Now I want you clearly to understand that this lever, being pressed over, sends the machine gliding into the future, and this other reverses the motion. This saddle represents the seat of a time traveller. Presently I am going to press the lever, and off the machine will go. It will vanish, pass into future Time, and disappear. Have a good look at the thing. Look at the table too, and satisfy yourselves there is no trickery. I don't want to waste this model, and then be told I'm a quack."
There was a minute's pause perhaps. The Psychologist seemed about to speak to me, but changed his mind. Then the Time Traveller put forth his finger toward the lever. "No," he said suddenly. "Lend me your hand." And turning to the Psychologist, he took that individual's hand in his own and told him to put out his forefinger. So that it was the Psychologist himself who sent forth the model Time Machine on its interminable voyage. We all saw the lever turn. I am absolutely certain there was no trickery. There was a breath of wind, and the lamp flame jumped. One of the candles on the mantel was blown out, and the little machine suddenly swung round, became indistinct, was seen as a ghost for a second perhaps, as an eddy of faintly glittering brass and ivory; and it was gone--vanished! Save for the lamp the table was bare.
Everyone was silent for a minute. Then Filby said he was damned.
The Psychologist recovered from his stupor, and suddenly looked under the table. At that the Time Traveller laughed cheerfully. "Well?" he said, with a reminiscence of the Psychologist. Then, getting up, he went to the tobacco jar on the mantel, and with his back to us began to fill his pipe.
We stared at each other. "Look here," said the Medical Man, "are you in earnest about this? Do you seriously believe that that machine has travelled into time?"
"Certainly," said the Time Traveller, stooping to light a spill at the fire. Then he turned, lighting his pipe, to look at the Psychologist's face. (The Psychologist, to show that he was not unhinged, helped himself to a cigar and tried to light it uncut.) "What is more, I have a big machine nearly finished in there"--he indicated the laboratory--"and when that is put together I mean to have a journey on my own account."
"You mean to say that that machine has travelled into the future?" said Filby.
"Into the future or the past--I don't, for certain, know which."
After an interval the Psychologist had an inspiration. "It must have gone into the past if it has gone anywhere," he said.
"Why?" said the Time Traveller.
"Because I presume that it has not moved in space, and if it travelled into the future it would still be here all this time, since it must have travelled through this time."
"But," I said, "if it travelled into the past it would have been visible when we came first into this room; and last Thursday when we were here; and the Thursday before that; and so forth!"
"Serious objections," remarked the Provincial Mayor, with an air of impartiality, turning towards the Time Traveller.
"Not a bit," said the Time Traveller, and, to the Psychologist: "You think. You can explain that. It's presentation below the threshold, you know, diluted presentation."
"Of course," said the Psychologist, and reassured us. "That's a simple point of psychology. I should have thought of it. It's plain enough, and helps the paradox delightfully. We cannot see it, nor can we appreciate this machine, any more than we can the spoke of a wheel spinning, or a bullet flying through the air. If it is travelling through time fifty times or a hundred times faster than we are, if it gets through a minute while we get through a second, the impression it creates will of course be only one-fiftieth or one-hundredth of what it would make if it were not travelling in time. That's plain enough." He passed his hand through the space in which the machine had been. "You see?" he said, laughing.
We sat and stared at the vacant table for a minute or so. Then the Time Traveller asked us what we thought of it all.
"It sounds plausible enough to-night," said the Medical Man; "but wait until to-morrow. Wait for the common sense of the morning."
"Would you like to see the Time Machine itself?" asked the Time Traveller. And therewith, taking the lamp in his hand, he led the way down the long, draughty corridor to his laboratory. I remember vividly the flickering light, his queer, broad head in silhouette, the dance of the shadows, how we all followed him, puzzled but incredulous, and how there in the laboratory we beheld a larger edition of the little mechanism which we had seen vanish from before our eyes. Parts were of nickel, parts of ivory, parts had certainly been filed or sawn out of rock crystal. The thing was generally complete, but the twisted crystalline bars lay unfinished upon the bench beside some sheets of drawings, and 1 took one up for a better look at it. Quartz it seemed to be.
"Look here," said the Medical Man, "are you perfectly serious? Or is this a trick--like that ghost you showed us last Christmas?"
"Upon that machine," said the Time Traveller, holding the lamp aloft, "I intend to explore time. Is that plain? I was never more serious in my life."
None of us quite knew how to take it.
I caught Filby's eye over the shoulder of the Medical Man, and he winked at me solemnly.
 
All new material in this edition is Copyright 1986 by Tom Doherty Associates, LLC.

Continues...

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Excerpted from The Time Machine by Wells, H. G. Copyright © 1992 by Wells, H. G.. Excerpted by permission.
All rights reserved. No part of this excerpt may be reproduced or reprinted without permission in writing from the publisher.
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Table of Contents

Acknowledgements
Introduction
H. G. Wells: A Brief Chronology
A Note on the Text

The Time Machine: An Invention

Appendix A. The Evolutionary Context: Biology

1. Charles Darwin, from The Origin of Species (1859, 1872)
2. E. Ray Lankester, from Degeneration (1880)
3. Thomas H. Huxley, from “The Struggle for Existence in Human Society” (1888)
4. H. G. Wells, from “Zoological Retrogression” (1891)
5. H. G. Wells, from Text-Book of Biology (1893)
6. Thomas H. Huxley, from “Evolution and Ethics” (1893)
7. H. G. Wells, “On Extinction” (1893)
8. H. G. Wells, from “The Man of the Year Million” (1893)
9. H. G. Wells, from “The Extinction of Man” (1894)

Appendix B. The Evolutionary Context: Society

1. Thomas Carlyle, from Past and Present (1843)
2. Karl Marx, from various writings (1844-64)
3. Frederick Engels, from The Condition of the Working-Class (1845)
4. Benjamin Disraeli, from Sybil (1845)
5. Herbert Spencer, from Social Statics (1851)
6. Herbert Spencer, from First Principles (1862)
7. Jules Verne, from The Child of the Cavern (1877)
8. Henry George, from Progress and Poverty (1880)
9. Edward Bellamy, from Looking Backward (1888)
10. Thomas H. Huxley, from “The Struggle for Existence in Human Society” (1888)
11. William Morris, from News from Nowhere (1890)
12. Benjamin Kidd, from Social Evolution (1894)

Appendix C. The Evolutionary Context: Culture

1. Winwood Reade, from The Martyrdom of Man (1872, 1875)
2. Friedrich Nietzsche, from The Joyful Wisdom (1882, 1886)
3. H. G. Wells, from “The Rediscovery of the Unique” (1891)
4. Max Nordau, from Degeneration (1892, 1895)

Appendix D. The Spatiotemporal Context: The Fourth Dimension

1. Edwin A. Abbott, from Flatland (1884)
2. C. H. Hinton, from “What Is the Fourth Dimension?” (1884)
3. “S,” “Four-Dimensional Space” (1885)
4. E. A. Hamilton Gordon, from “The Fourth Dimension” (1887)
5. Oscar Wilde, from “The Canterville Ghost” (1887)
6. William James, from The Principles of Psychology (1890)
7. Simon Newcomb, from “Modern Mathematical Thought” (1894)

Appendix E. The Spatiotemporal Context: Solar Death and the End of the World

1. Jonathan Swift, from Gulliver’s Travels (1726)
2. William Thomson, from “On the Age of the Sun’s Heat” (1862)
3. Balfour Stewart, from The Conservation of Energy (1874)
4. Balfour Stewart & Peter Guthrie Tait, from The Unseen Universe (1875)
5. George Howard Darwin, from “The Determination of the Secular Effects of Tidal Friction by a Graphical Method” (1879)
6. George Howard Darwin, from “On the Precession of a Viscous Spheroid” (1879)
7. H. G. Wells, from “The ‘Cyclic’ Delusion” (1894)
8. Camille Flammarion, from Omega (1894)

Appendix F. Extracts from Wells’s Correspondence

Appendix G. Wells on The Time Machine

1. H. G. Wells, from “Popularising Science” (1894)
2. H. G. Wells, from “Preface,” Works of H. G. Wells, Vol. 1 (1924)
3. H. G. Wells, from “Preface,” The Time Machine: An Invention (1931)
4. H. G. Wells, from “Preface,” Seven Famous Novels (1934)
5. H. G. Wells, from Experiment in Autobiography (1934)
6. H. G. Wells, from “Fiction About the Future” (1938)

Appendix H. Reviews of The Time Machine

1. From Review of Reviews [London] (March 1895)
2. From Review of Reviews [New York] (June 1895)
3. New York Times (23 June 1895)
4. Spectator (13 July 1895)
5. Literary World (13 July 1895)
6. Nature (18 July 1895)
7. From Saturday Review (20 July 1895)
8. Daily Chronicle (27 July 1895)
9. Israel Zangwill, from Pall Mall Magazine (September 1895)
10. From Review of Reviews [New York] (October 1895)

Appendix I. Contemporary Portraits of Wells

1. From Bookman (August 1895)
2. “Picaroon,” from Chap-Book [Chicago] (1896)

Selected Annotated Bibliography

Works Cited

Reading Group Guide

When the intrepid Time Traveller finds himself in the year 802,701, he encounters a seemingly utopian society of evolved human beings but then unearths the dark secret that sets mankind on course toward its inevitable destruction. An insightful look into a distant, bleak, and disturbing future, The Time Machine goes beyond the reaches of science fiction to provide a strikingly relevant discussion of social progress, class struggle, and the human condition. Hailed as a masterpiece of its genre, H. G. Wells's famous novella about the perils of history and the hubris of modernity comes vividly alive in this remarkable reissue of a unique 1931 illustrated edition.

1. As Ursula Le Guin mentions in her Introduction, The Time Machine was once published in a collection titled Seven Scientific Romances, and indeed H. G. Wells was known to refer often to the novella as a "romance." This may seem an unusual way of classifying The Time Machine. Why might Wells have deemed his work a "scientific romance"? What elements of the story, and of Wells's own motivations for writing it, would justify that categorization?

2. In Wells's Preface to this edition of The Time Machine, he refers to himself in the third person, as "the writer," until he startles the reader by referring to "my story" at the midpoint of the essay. Why might Wells have made the choice to refer to himself in the third person, and what effect did this have on your response to the rest of the book? Did his apparent objectivity provide an additional sense of credibility to the text? Why might he have abruptly switched voices, making the piece more personal, after establishing himself as an objective observer?

3. The story of The Time Machine is framed by a dinner party. The banquet, or dinner party, is prevalent in literature as both a trope and a literary device. The use of a dinner party in science fiction may, however, seem somewhat untraditional. Why might Wells have chosen a dinner party as a framing device for his story? What purposes does it serve? In a story about time and time travel, did it help to ground you, the reader, in the present?

4. The Time Machine, written in 1895, is often viewed as a radical and insightful discourse in the science of time/ space relations. As a piece of fiction, it is entertaining and provocative, but Wells also delves into a profound discussion of time as a fourth dimension. The Time Traveller's explanation of these scientific ideas is rather detailed and quite scholarly. Where in the story does he first explain these ideas, and how does he do so? While this may be exposition for the rest of the story, what other purposes might Wells have had in engaging this discussion in such detail? What might Victorian readers have thought about these ideas? What might the character of the Time Traveller reveal about Wells's attitudes toward science and the scientific pursuit?

5. The issue of credibility comes up at the outset of The Time Machine. How does the Time Traveller attempt to give credibility to his ideas at the beginning, and what devices throughout does the character use to make the time-travel premise believable for his audience? What techniques or ideas does Wells use to make the premise credible for his readers?

6. Throughout the novel, the only character named is Weena. Each of the Time Traveller's companions is referred to by either first initial or occupation, and the narrator's identity is not even disclosed until the book's conclusion. Why might Wells have used this technique? Is the fact that Weena is the only character acknowledged by name meaningful to the book?

7. Written at a time of rapid economic growth and industrialization in England, The Time Machine is renowned as a work of social criticism. It is known that Wells's own political beliefs were leftist. Describe the relationship between the species of the future, the Eloi and the Morlocks. How might The Time Machine, in its depiction of the future and the struggle between these species, be a metaphor and prophecy for the age in which Wells was living?

8. It is noteworthy that the Time Traveller comments so often on the year in the future to which he traveled, 802,701. Why was it necessary for Wells's to set his story so far in the future? Does the extremity of the setting make the novel more or less relevant as a work of social criticism?

9. The idea of evolution arises often in this book; the discussion of it falls into the categories of both scientific commentary and social criticism. How does Wells depict the evolution of the human race? What factors contribute to the final results? How do the Eloi evolve into androgynous automatons, while the Morlocks devolve into brutish troglodytes?

10. The processes of evolution and devolution as depicted in The Time Machine provide interesting insight into the concept of gender roles in modern society. How does Wells construct his criticism of gender and society through the depiction of these two species? How do you think his Victorian audience would have responded to this type of commentary?

11. The Time Machine is a work laden with symbolism. The Palace of Green Porcelain stands out as having significant meaning in terms of both the plot and the social commentary it affords. What is the relevance of the palace in the year 802,701, what is it in the Time Traveller's age, and how does the palace figure into the plot? While in the Palace of Green Porcelain, the Time Traveller chooses a few "weapons." What are they and how does he use them? It is interesting that the matches he selects figure the most prominently into the story. Is the importance of fire in the far distant future ironic? Find, describe, and discuss other symbols that appear over the course of the novel.

12. While the story takes place far in the future, the hero of the story, a civilized British scientist, experiences profoundly primitive emotions over the course of the story. At what points in the book is it evident that the Time Traveller is regressing to a primitive state? What does this character development say about "time travel," in scientific, evolutionary, and emotional terms?

13. What purpose does the Time Traveller's foray to "the end of the world" serve in the story and in Wells's social commentary? This episode appears desperate and hopeless. Do you think Wells was truly pessimistic about the future of mankind? How does Wells remind the reader that optimism is not only present in his story, but essential? How do Weena's flowers figure into the optimism/pessimism discourse?

14. The Time Machine is a major work of utopian/dystopian fiction. What is a utopia? A dystopia? Describe the physical landscape of the future as Wells envisions it. What elements of both utopia and dystopia are immediately noticeable? How is the social landscape simultaneously utopian and dystopian? How does this theme figure into the idea of appearance versus reality, a debate that also figures prominently in the novel?

15. Wells certainly opens the doors for discussion with this novel, and it is clear that he felt extremely connected to the ideas conveyed in the book. To what extent do you think the character of the Time Traveller was a literary mask or mouthpiece of the author? Are there any aspects of the book that lead you to believe Wells was more or less hopeful about the future of mankind than his protagonist?

Editorial Reviews

This is undoubtedly the definitive edition of H.G. Wells’s masterpiece, as fresh today in its imaginative power as the day it was written; but here refreshed by excellent introduction, notes and a comprehensive collection of appendices by Wells’s contemporaries. The method could not be bettered.” — Brian W. Aldiss, author of the Helliconia trilogy; Billion Year Spree: A History of Science Fiction and, most recently, White Mars: or, the Mind Set Free: A 21st-Century Utopia

“This is an invaluable edition of a text with a crucial role in modern culture. Wielding his meticulous scholarship and wide-ranging knowledge, Ruddick produces a splendid introduction and a rich selection of contextual materials.” — H. Bruce Franklin, author of War Stars: The Superweapon and the American Imagination and Future Perfect: American Science Fiction of the Nineteenth Century

“Ruddick offers a wide-ranging and stimulating Introduction to this generously documented edition of one of the great source texts of modern science fiction. General readers, students, and scholars will all be grateful for the comprehensive appendices, which provide a full selection of the scientific, philosophical, and cultural contexts out of which The Time Machine first emerged. This should be the scholarly edition for some time to come.” — Douglas Barbour, University of Alberta

“The structure of Ruddick’s book makes the complexity of The Time Machine easy to map, while the critical materials provide a basis for deep and detailed study. The impressive scholarship included ensures that it will remain a useful resource for teachers, essential for libraries and especially suitable for students or newcomers to Wells’ canon.” — Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts

“I exclusively use your edition of The Time Machine and cannot say enough about its perspective. Mathematics and science in literature is a specialty of mine, and there is no finer edition of that text. It is a keystone in my Mathematics and Science in the Humanities course. You folks at Broadview are outstanding!” — Michael J. Gormley, Quinsigamond Community College

From the Publisher

"The structure of Ruddick's book makes the complexity of The Time Machine easy to map, while the critical materials provide a basis for deep and detailed study. The impressive scholarship included ensures that it will remain a useful resource for teachers, essential for libraries and especially suitable for students or newcomers to Wells' canon."

Journal of the Fantastic in the Arts

"Ruddick offers a wide-ranging and stimulating Introduction to this generously documented edition of one of the great source texts of modern science fiction. General readers, students, and scholars will all be grateful for the comprehensive appendices, which provide a full selection of the scientific, philosophical, and cultural contexts out of which The Time Machine first emerged. This should be the scholarly edition for some time to come."

Douglas Barbour University of Alberta

"This is an invaluable edition of a text with a crucial role in modern culture. Wielding his meticulous scholarship and wide-ranging knowledge, Ruddick produces a splendid introduction and a rich selection of contextual materials."

H. Bruce Franklin

"This is undoubtedly the definitive edition of H.G. Wells’s masterpiece, as fresh today in its imaginative power as the day it was written; but here refreshed by excellent introduction, notes and a comprehensive collection of appendices by Wells’s contemporaries. The method could not be bettered."

Brian W. Aldiss

Two of Wells's sf masterpieces get the red carpet treatment here. These "critical text" editions contain the full text plus annotations, indexes, appendixes, and bibliographies. Though these editions are pricey, Wells's works deserve serious consideration. Libraries should at least stock up on a few extra budget paperback copies of Doctor Moreau to meet demand generated by a forthcoming film remake starring Marlon Brando and Val Kilmer.

Library Journal

two cheers for Stoverism...formidable scholarship

The Wellsian

fascinating...extremely useful

Choice

thorough job

Interzone