Time Machine

The Time Machine is a novella by H. G. Wells, first published in 1895 and later directly adapted into at least two Feature film of the same name, as well versions, and a large number of comic book adaptations. It indirectly inspired many more works of fiction in all media. This 38,000 word novella is generally credited with the popularization of the concept of time travel using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively. The term "time machine", coined by Wells, is now universally used to refer to such a vehicle. It was also inspired by Charles Darwin and On the Origin of Species which theorizes that humans have evolved from a different species. Wells introduces an early example of the Dying Earth sub genre as well.

History

Wells had considered the notion of time travel before, in an earlier (but less well-known) work titled The Chronic Argonauts. He had thought of using some of this material in a series of articles in the Pall Mall Gazette, until the publisher asked him if he could instead write a serial novel on the same theme; Wells readily agreed, and was paid £100 on its publication by Heinemann in 1895. The story was first published in serial form in the New Review through 1894 and 1895. The book is based on the Block Theory of the Universe, which is a notion that time is a fourth space dimension.

The story reflects Wells's own socialist political views and the contemporary angst about industrial relations. Other science fiction works of the period, including Edward Bellamy's Looking Backward and Thea von Harbou's Metropolis, dealt with similar themes.

The Time Machine is in the public domain in the United States, Canada, and Australia, but does not enter the public domain in the European Union untilJanuary 1, 2017 (1946 death of author + 70 years + end of calendar year).