The Time Machine, a novel by H.G. Wells

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The Time Machine, a novel by H.G. Wells A
pioneer in the writing of science fiction, Wells
presents a book that expounds upon the foibles of
his society of 1900 in a way that causes all
since then who read his novel to look and
contemplate about their own future and the impact
they may have on it. Although Wells incorporates
the literal use of a time distortion mechanism to
explain his point in this book, the relevance of
his questions is carried through time, as if on a
social time machine, with the outcome depending
upon how well society takes into consideration
the events of the past. So, from a certain point
of view, Wells book is a time machine. This
Powerpoint presentation covers four areas - the
background of the author - information on the
book and its structure, including vocabulary from
each chapter - theories of the concept
of time travel - social messages of Wells in
There is also a section of review questions from
each chapter and overall.
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(No Transcript)
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Einstein once said "The relativistic analogy can
be carried to its logical end. Since time begins
to slow down with higher speeds,it can be shown
that at the speed of light it stops totally and
beyond that begins to run backwards! Similarly,
matter having contracted more and more,
ultimately vanishes. But beyond the speed of
light it is difficult to imagine negative matter
with infinite mass.
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The Author
The Book
Time Travel
Review Questions
Social Messages
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HG Wells Biography
List of Works
Literary Application
Historical Application
Back to Main Frame
Review Questions
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Biography
H.G Wells, (1866-1946), English novelist,
journalist, sociologist, and historian, famous
for his works of science fiction. Wells's
best-known books are The Time Machine (1895), The
Invisible Man (1897), and The War Of The Worlds
(1898). H.G. Wells was born on September 21,
1866 in Bromley, Kent. His father was a
shopkeeper and a professional cricketer, and his
mother served from time to time as a housekeeper
at the nearby estate of Uppark. His father's
business failed and Wells was apprenticed like
his brothers to a draper, spending the years
between 1880 and 1883 in Windsor and Southsea.
Later he recorded these years in Kipps (1905).
In 1883 Wells became a teacher-pupil at Midhurst
Grammar School. He obtained a scholarship to the
Normal School of Science in London and studied
biology under T.H. Huxley. However, his interest
faltered and in 1887 he left without a degree. He
taught in private schools for four years, not
taking his B.S. degree until 1890. Next year he
settled in London, married his cousin Isabel and
continued his career as a teacher in a
correspondence college. From 1893 Wells became a
full-time writer. After some years Wells left
Isabel for one of his brightest students, Amy
Catherine, whom he married in 1895. As a
novelist Wells made his debut with The Time
Machine(1895), a parody of English class division
and a satirical warning that human progress is
not inevitable. The work was followed by such
science-fiction classics as The Island Of Dr.
Moreau (1896), The Invisible Man (1897) and The
War of the Worlds (1898). The First Men On The
Moon (1901) was a prophetic description of the
methodology of space flight and The War In The
Air (1908) describes a catastrophic aerial war.
Love And Mr. Lewisham appeared in 1900,
Tono-Bungay and The History Of Mr. Polly in 1909.
Wells also published critical pamphlets attacking
the Victorian social order, among them
Anticipations (1901), Mankind In The Making
(1903) and A Modern Utopia (1905).
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Fiction Ann Veronica In the Days of the Comet The
First Men in the Moon The Invisible Man The
Island of Doctor Moreau The New Machiavelli The
Research Magnificent The Soul of a Bishop The
Time Machine The War in the Air The War of the
Worlds The Wheels of Chance The World Set
Free Tono Bungay When the Sleeper
Wakes Non-fiction God The Invisible King
Short Stories Aepyornis Island The Cone The
Country of the Blind The Diamond Maker The Door
in the Wall A Dream of Armageddon Filmer Jimmy
Goggles the God The Lord of the Dynamos The Magic
Shop Miss Winchelsea's Heart A Moonlight
Fable Mr. Brisher's Treasure Mr. Ledbetter's
Vacation Mr. Skelmersdale in Fairyland The New
Accelerator The Star The Stolen Body The Story of
the Inexperienced Ghost The Truth about
Pyecraft The Valley of Spiders
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Literary Application
Wells book is touted as a leader in the area of
science fiction. It successfully combines the
paradox of science and fiction to predict an
outcome of mankind based on what he perceives
about his own society. It is praised for its
structure, of a story within a story. First is
the tale of the time machine itself, an anomaly
of its time, nevertheless it creates mystery and
adventure for the time traveler and the
reader. The second is the examination of a
society through displacing it to another time, a
trait typical of science fiction. An author
removes the subject and places it out of context
so people can see it for what it is. Just as a
tree is just another tree in the forest until it
stands alone, most people refuse or neglect to
see singular issues until they become obvious or
malignant. And even then, the response sometimes
is the whole forest had already been made up by
that tree and we just have to accept it. Many
have pondered about what the future holds. Wells
gives his answer through his study and
predictions of what he sees around him. The
presentation of the Eloi and their
characteristics reminds the reader of a return to
an edenistic world. This image is even more
apparent when the Morlocks, the metaphoric snake,
finally makes their presence known.
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Historical Application
Though most of The Time Machine takes place in
the future, where the London of Wellss time has
been gone for a very long time, Wellss story
speaks volumes about the society in which he
lived and wrote. The city, in many ways, was at
the center of the world, most especially in trade
and industrial progress. Both goods produced in
the city and those shipped from around the world,
especially the colonies, circulated in the city
and its harbor and out to all points, creating a
great amount of wealth. New transportation
allowed the millions of residents to spread
further out from the city center, as London
expanded its geography as well as its wealth. At
the same time, the empirical project was
beginning to falter, and more questions were
beginning to be asked about the value and
morality of maintaining it. Although wealthy in
many ways, Victorian London was not a paradise,
most especially for the members of the lowest
classes, who labored in terrible conditions.
There was social unrest at the beginning of the
century, followed by a time of higher wages and
more prosperity, but even in these times, many
labored on the underground railroad, which was
completed in 1865--which the Time Traveller
specifically mentions as the beginning of the
Morlocks--and after that in similar conditions in
factories all around London. Wells was very
interested in the concerns of the lower classes,
and the inequality of English society. In 1903,
he joined the Fabian Society, a socialist group,
which grew out of the Fellowship of New Life,
founded in 1883. The group became better known in
1889 when they published Fabian Essays. The
Fabians held beliefs similar to Marxism in that
they recognized the mistreatment of the worker,
and the inequalities exacerbated by capitalism,
but instead of supporting the theory that
revolutionary end must and should be the result
of capitalism, they believed that social reforms,
and the alteration of present political
structures would bring about a gradual
amelioration of the social system. These beliefs
clearly pervade The Time Machine, as the effects
of capitalism become expressly clear at a
distance of hundreds of thousands of years. Also
at this time, Darwins theories were becoming
accepted as the norm in the scientific community,
and Wellss position as a Darwinist can clearly
be seen in his application of evolutionary
biology to the evolutionary social theory
practiced by the Fabians. Thus, just as the
social system has gradually changed over the
thousands of years, the biology of humans has
changed concurrently, in a kind of reciprocal
relationship. The Morlocks and Eloi gradually
developed their physical characteristics as a
result of the gradually changing social system.
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Plot Line Overview
Etext of The Time Machine
Book Specs, Film Adaptations
Two Threads of the Book
Vocabulary from each chapter
Back to Main Frame
Review Questions
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Plot Line Overview
Several gentlemen are gathered at a house, which
they do every Thursday, to eat and talk, the
topic of discussion being time travel. The host
presents and sustains the concept of time travel
and even produces a small model which vanishes,
apparently to go into the future. It is then
learned that the host wants to travel into the
future because he hopes to be a part of stronger
minds and scientific advances.At one of these
Thursdays thereafter, the host arrives late and
is in a state of disarray. He explains that he
had succeeded in time travel and will tell the
tale of the Eloi and Morlocks and how he came to
understand about the fate of humanity.None
believe the host however, and he returns to the
future at the end of the novel. Three years
elapsed and the Time Traveler had not reappeared.
He was considered by his friends as a lost
wanderer, somewhere in time.
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Book Specs and Film Adaptations
Wells, H.G. The Time Machine . Bantam Books New
York. 1991. First published in 1895, 115 pages
THE TIME MACHINE Movies 1960
2002     Directed by George Pal
  Written by David Duncan , Herbert G. Wells
  Original music by Russell Garcia   Produced
by Galaxy Films, Metro- Goldwyn-Mayer   Distrib
uted by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer 103 minutes  
Director Simon Wells Executive Producer Arnold
Leibovit Producers Walter F. Parkes and David
Valdes Screenplay By John Logan Novel By H G
Wells Director of Photography Donald M.
McAlpine Production Designer Oliver Scholl Film
Editor Wayne Wahrman, A.C.E. Costume Designer
Deena Appel and Bob Ringwood Music By Klaus
Badelt Casting Mindy Marin Art Directors Chris
Burian-Mohr, Bruce R. Hill, and Donald
Woodruff Set Decorator Victor J. Zolfo Visual
Effects Supervisor James E. Price Alexander
Hartdegen - Guy Pearce David Philby - Mark
Addy Mrs. Watchit - Phyllida Law Emma - Sienna
Guillory Vox - Orlando Jones Mara - Samantha
Mumba Kalen - Omero Mumba Toren - Yancey
Arias Uber-Morlock - Jeremy Irons
Cast Yvette Mimieux --gt Weena Rod Taylor
 --gt George (H. G. Wells) Alan Young
 --gt David Filby / James Filby Bob Barran
 --gt Eloi Man Sebastian Cabot  --gt Dr. Philip
Hillyer Tom Helmore  --gt Anthony Bridewell
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The Two Threads of The Time Machine
The Time Machine has two main
threads. The first is the adventure tale of the
Eloi and Morlocks in the year 802,701 AD. The
second is the science fiction of the time
machine.

The adventure story includes
many archetypal elements. The Time Traveller's
journey to the underworld, his fear of the great
forest, and his relationship to Weena, mirror
imagery prevalent in earlier literature, imagery
strongly associated with the inner workings of
the human psyche. The tale of 802,701 is
political commentary of late Victorian England.
It is a dystopia, a vision of a troubled future.
It recommends that current society change its
ways lest it end up like the Eloi, terrified of
an underground race of Morlocks. In the Eloi,
Wells satirizes Victorian decadence. In the
Morlocks, Wells provides a potentially Marxist
critique of capitalism. The rest of the novella
deals with the science fiction of time travel.
Before Wells, other people had written fantasies
of time travel, but Wells was the first to bring
a strong dose of scientific speculation to the
genre. Wells has his Time Traveller speak at
length on the fourth dimension and on the strange
astronomy and evolutionary trends he observes as
he travels through time. Much of this was
inspired by ideas of entropy and decay
promulgated by Wells' teacher, Thomas Henry
Huxley.
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Vocabulary
Back to Main
Chapter 1
Chapter 2
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7
Chapter 8
Chapter 10
Chapter 11
Chapter 12
Chapter 9
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Chapter 1 Vocabulary
adroit -Skillful and adept under pressing
conditions anachronisms -The representation of
someone as existing or something as happening in
other than chronological, proper, or
historical order anecdote -A short account of an
interesting or humorous incident Apparatus -An
appliance or device for a particular
purpose askew -To one side awry assimilation -Th
e process whereby a minority group gradually
adopts the customs and attitudes of the
prevailing culture conjurer -One that performs
magic tricks a magician Controvert -To raise
arguments against voice opposition
to draughty -Pertaining to a draught, or current
of air explicit -Fully and clearly expressed
leaving nothing implied fecundity -Productive or
creative power impartiality -Not partial or
biased unprejudiced interminable -Being or
seeming to be without an end endless intermittent
ly -Stopping and starting at intervals misconcepti
on -A mistaken thought, idea, or notion a
misunderstanding paradox -A seemingly
contradictory statement that may nonetheless be
true patents -An exclusive right or
title pensive -Suggestive or expressive of
melancholy thoughtfulness perspective -A mental
view or outlook plausible -Seemingly or
apparently valid, likely, or acceptable
credible recondite -Not easily understood
abstruse Spasmodic -Given to sudden outbursts of
energy or feeling excitable subtly -So slight
as to be difficult to detect or describe
elusive trammels -A shackle used to teach a
horse to amble Transitory -Existing or lasting
only a short time short-lived or
temporary velocity -Rapidity or speed of motion
swiftness verification -A confirmation of truth
or authority
Back to Vocab
Chapter 2
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Chapter 2 Vocabulary
Articulation -The act of vocal expression
utterance or enunciation caricature -A
representation, especially pictorial or literary,
in which the subject's distinctive
features or peculiarities are deliberately
exaggerated to produce a comic or
grotesque effect eke -To supplement with
great effort fervent -Having or showing great
emotion or zeal ardent ghastly -Inspiring
shock, revulsion, or horror by or as if by
suggesting death terrifying haggard
-Appearing worn and exhausted gaunt jocular
-Characterized by joking lucid -Mentally
sound sane or rational mutton -The flesh of
fully grown sheep peptone -Any of various
water-soluble protein derivatives obtained by
partial hydrolysis of a protein by an acid
or enzyme during digestion and used in culture
media in bacteriology verbatim -Using exactly
the same words corresponding word for word whim
-A sudden or capricious idea a fancy
Back to Vocab
Chapter 3
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Chapter 3 Vocabulary
attenuated -To make slender, fine, or
small consumptive -Consuming or tending to
consume elusive -Difficult to define or
describe fluctuating -To vary irregularly imminent
-About to occur impending Indistinctly -Not
clearly or sharply delineated inevitable -Impossi
ble to avoid or prevent intermittent -Stopping
and starting at intervals. interstices -A space,
especially a small or narrow one, between things
or parts intricate -Having many complexly
arranged elements elaborate luminous -Emitting
light, especially emitting self-generated
light palpitation -A trembling or
shaking petulance -Unreasonably irritable or
ill-tempered peevish poignant -Keenly
distressing to the mind or feelings scaffolding -A
temporary platform, either supported from below
or suspended from above, on which workers
sit or stand when performing tasks at heights
above the ground temerity -Foolhardy disregard
of danger recklessness tunic -A loose-fitting
garment, sleeved or sleeveless, extending to the
knees and worn by men and women especially in
ancient Greece and Rome verdigris -A green
patina or crust of copper sulfate or copper
chloride formed on copper, brass, and bronze
exposed to air or seawater for long periods of
time
Back to Vocab
Chapter 4
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Chapter 4 Vocabulary
Back to Vocab
ameliorating -To make or become better
improve connubial -Relating to marriage or the
married state conjugal corroded -To impair
steadily deteriorate Cupola -A vaulted roof or
ceiling Derelict -Deserted by an owner or
keeper abandoned eroticism -An erotic quality
or theme facet -One of the flat polished
surfaces cut on a gemstone or occurring naturally
on a crystal frugivorous -Feeding on fruit
fruit-eating gesticulated -To say or express by
gestures Grotesque -Outlandish or bizarre, as in
character or appearance impetus -An impelling
force an impulse labyrinth -Something highly
intricate or convoluted in character,
composition, or construction languor -Lack
of physical or mental energy listlessness obelisk
-A tall, four-sided shaft of stone, usually
tapered and monolithic, that rises to a
pointed pyramidal top plausible -Seemingly or
apparently valid, likely, or acceptable
credible precocious -Manifesting or characterized
by unusually early development or maturity,
especially in putrefaction -Decomposition of
organic matter, especially protein, by
microorganisms, resulting in production of
foul-smelling matter quaintly -Charmingly odd,
especially in an old-fashioned way rotundity -Rou
nded in figure plump subjugation -To make
subservient enslave subtle -So slight as to be
difficult to detect or describe
elusive variegated -To change the appearance of,
especially by marking with different colors
streak vivid -Presented in clear and striking
manner wane -To decrease gradually in size,
amount, intensity, or degree decline
Chapter 5
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Chapter 5 Vocabulary
apertures -An opening, such as a hole, gap, or
slit cicerone -A guide for sightseers crematoria
-A furnace or establishment for the incineration
of corpses etiolated -To make weak by stunting
the growth or development of explicit -Fully and
clearly expressed leaving nothing
implied exuberant -Full of unrestrained
enthusiasm or joy folly -A lack of good sense,
understanding, or foresight furtively -Expressive
of hidden motives or purposes
shifty indolent -Disinclined to exert oneself
habitually lazy interpolated -To insert or
introduce between other elements or
parts leprous -Having or consisting of loose,
scurfy scales perplexity -The state of being
intricate or complicated ramifications -A
development or consequence growing out of and
sometimes complicating a problem, plan, or
statement serenity -The state or quality of
being serene. stolid -Having or revealing little
emotion or sensibility impassive subterranean -Si
tuated or operating beneath the earth's surface
underground Utopia -An ideally perfect place,
especially in its social, political, and moral
aspects vestige -A visible trace, or sign of
something that once existed but exists or appears
no more zenith -The point of culmination
the peak
Chapter 6
Back to Vocab
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Chapter 6 Vocabulary
abysmal -Resembling an abyss in depth
unfathomable appalled -To fill with
consternation or dismay disconcerted -To upset
the self-possession of ruffle discordantly -Disag
reeable in sound harsh or dissonant eking -To
supplement with great effort halitus -Any
exhalation, as of a breath or vapor impenetrable -
Impossible to understand incomprehensible lustre
-a surface coating for ceramics or
porcelain novelty -Something new and unusual an
innovation oppressive -Weighing heavily on the
senses or spirit parapet -A low protective wall
or railing along the edge of a raised structure
such as a roof or balcony vermin -Various
small animals or insects, such as rats or
cockroaches, that are destructive, annoying,
or injurious to health
Back to Vocab
Chapter 7
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Chapter 7 Vocabulary
degradation -A decline to a lower condition,
quality, or level dexterous -Skillful in the use
of the hands. eccentric -Departing from a
recognized, conventional, or established norm or
pattern impeded -To retard or obstruct the
progress of intolerable -Impossible to tolerate
or endure unbearable mallows -Any of various
plants of the genus Malva, having pink or white
auxiliary flowers, palmate leaves, and
disc-like schizocarpic fruits nemesis -A source
of harm or ruin
To Main Vocab Page
Chapter 8
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Chapter 8 Vocabulary
deliquesced -To disappear as if by
melting desiccated -To make dry, dull, or
lifeless diminution -The act or process of
diminishing a lessening or reduction Estuary -Th
e part of the wide lower course of a river where
its current is met by the tides futility -The
quality of having no useful result
uselessness hermetically -Completely sealed,
especially against the escape or entry of
air vestiges -A visible trace, or sign of
something that once existed but exists or appears
no more
Back to Vocab
Chapter 9
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Chapter 9 Vocabulary
atrocious -Extremely evil or cruel
monstrous carbuncles -A red precious
stone incessant -Continuing without
interruption. pulsated -To expand and contract
rhythmically beat succulent -Full of juice or
sap juicy
Back to Vocab
Chapter 10
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Chapter 10 Vocabulary
abominable -Unequivocally detestable
loathsome siege -Surrounding and blockading of a
city, town, or fortress by an army attempting to
capture it tumult -A disorderly commotion
or disturbance
Back to Vocab
Chapter 11
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Chapter 11 Vocabulary
appalling -To fill with consternation or
dismay Concavity -The state of being curved like
the inner surface of a sphere foliated -Of or
relating to rock that exhibits a layered
structure incrustation -A crust or
coating lurid -Glowing or shining with the glare
of fire through a haze palpitating -To move with
a slight tremulous motion tremble, shake, or
quiver perpetual -Lasting for eternity prodigious
-Impressively great in size, force, or extent
enormous reverted -To return to a former
condition, practice, subject, or belief
Back to Vocab
Chapter 12
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Chapter 12 Vocabulary
assertion -Something declared or stated
positively, often with no support or attempt at
proof precious -Of high cost or worth
valuable stagnant -Not moving or flowing
motionless truncated -Having the apex cut off and
replaced by a plane, especially one parallel to
the base. Used of a cone or pyramid



Back to Vocab
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Simon Newcomb
Victorian Culture
Fabians
Capitalism
Marxism
Communism
Evolution
Laissez-faire
Utopia And Dystopia
Questions For Review
Back to Main
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Fabian Socialists
The British counterpart of the German Marxian
revisionists and heavily influenced by the
English Historical school, the upper-middle-class
intellectual group - the "Fabian Society" -
emerged in 1884 as a strand of latter-day utopian
socialism. They became known to the public
firstly through Sidney Webb's Facts for
Socialists (1884) and then through the famous
Fabian Essays in Socialism (1889) written by the
Webbs, Shaw, and others. The "Fabians" were
named after Fabius, the famous Roman general
which opposed Hannibal as they were "biding their
time" until they would "strike hard".  Exactly
when this strike would occur was a perennial
question.   Eschewing the revolutionary tactics
of more orthodox Marxians, the middle-class
Fabians were more directly involved with politics
and practical gains - through contacts not only
in the "International Labor Party", trade unions
and cooperative movements but also throughout the
entire British political apparatus (Liberals and
Tories included). At the core of the Fabian
Society were the Webbs - Sidney J. Webb and his
wife, Beatrice Potter Webb (married 1892).
Together, they wrote numerous studies of
industrial Britain, alternative economic
arrangements (esp. cooperatives) and pamphlets
for political reform. At the core of their system
was the Ricardian theory of rent which they
applied to capital as well as land (and labor as
well - their opposition to high labor incomes was
also an issue). Their conclusion was that it was
the state's responsibility to acquire this rent
(a position strikingly familiar to Henry George -
whom Shaw credited explicitly).  Their later
admiration of Soviet Russia stemmed partly from
Stalin's "efficiency" at acquiring this rent.
More on Fabians
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Victorian Culture
Victorian Web
Curiously Victorian
Victorian Culture and History
Darwin and Victorian Culture
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Simon Newcomb
Born 12 March 1835 in Wallace, Nova Scotia,
Canada Died 11 July 1909 in Washington, D.C.,
USA Simon Newcomb had no formal education but,
in about 1854 after he joined his father who had
moved to Maryland USA, he began to study
mathematics in the libraries at Washington. He
obtained a job (1857) in the American Nautical
Almanac Office (in Cambridge, Mass. at that
time). He studied at Harvard graduating in 1858.
In 1861 Newcomb was appointed to the Naval
Observatory at Washington. He spent the next10
years determining the positions of celestial
objects using various telescopes including a
26-inch refractor telescope which had just been
built. In 1877 Newcomb became director of the
American Nautical Almanac Office (by this time in
Washington). He then started his most important
work which, in his own words, gave ... a
systematic determination of the constants of
astronomy from the best existing data, a
reinvestigation of the theories of the
celestial motions, and the preparation of tables,
formulae, and precepts for the construction of
ephemerides, and for other applications of
the same results. The reason he undertook this
work was because of the ... confusion which
pervaded the whole system of exact astronomy,
arising from the diversity of the fundamental
data made use of by the astronomers of foreign
countries and various institutions in their
work. Newcomb was professor of mathematics and
astronomy at Johns Hopkins (1884-1893). He was an
editor of the American Journal of Mathematics for
many years. He was also a founding member and
first president (1899-1905) of the American
Astronomical Society. He served as president of
the American Mathematical Society from 1897 to
1898. Although most of Newcomb's work was in
mathematical astronomy, some of his papers were
purely theoretical. He wrote a paper showing how
the coordinates of a planet might be represented
by trigonometric series. He also wrote on
non-euclidean geometry and Cayley commented on
one of this theorems saying- ... from the
boldness of the conception and beauty of the
result a very remarkable one, and constitutes an
important addition to theoretical dynamics.
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Communism
Political theory advocating community ownership
of all property, the benefits of which are to be
shared by all according to the needs of each. The
theory was principally the work of K. Marx and F.
Engels. Their Communist Manifesto (1848) further
specified a "dictatorship of the proletariat," a
transitional stage Marx called socialism
communism was the final stage in which not only
class division but even the organized state--seen
by Marx as inevitably an instrument of
oppression--would be transcended (see Marxism).
That distinction was soon lost, and "communist"
began to apply to a specific party rather than a
final goal. V. Lenin maintained that the
proletariat needed professional revolutionaries
to guide it (see Leninism). J. Stalin's version
of communism (see Stalinism) was synonymous to
many with totalitarianism. Mao Zedong mobilized
peasants rather than an urban proletariat in
China's Communist revolution (see Maoism).
European communism (see Eurocommunism) lost most
of its following with the collapse of the Soviet
Union (1991). See also Communist Party,
dialectical materialism, First International,
Second International.
32
Capitalism
Economic system in which most of the means of
production are privately owned, and production is
guided and income distributed largely through the
operation of markets. Capitalism has been
dominant in the Western world since the end of
mercantilism. It was fostered by the Reformation,
which sanctioned hard work and frugality, and by
the rise of industry during the Industrial
Revolution, especially the English textile
industry (16th-18th cent). Unlike earlier
systems, capitalism used the excess of production
over consumption to enlarge productive capacity
rather than investing it in economically
unproductive enterprises such as cathedrals. The
strong national states of the mercantilist era
provided the social conditions, such as uniform
monetary systems and legal codes, necessary for
the rise of capitalism. The ideology of classical
capitalism was expressed in A. Smith's Wealth of
Nations (1776), and Smith's free-market theories
were widely adopted in the 19th cent. In the 20th
cent. the Great Depression effectively ended
laissez-faire economics in most countries, but
the demise of the state-run command economies of
Eastern Europe and the former Soviet Union (see
communism) and the adoption of some free-market
principles in China left capitalism unrivaled (if
not untroubled) at the end of the 20th century.
33
Marxism
Ideology and socioeconomic theory developed by K.
Marx and F. Engels. The fundamental ideology of
communism, it holds that all people are entitled
to enjoy the fruits of their labor but are
prevented from doing so in a capitalist economic
system, which divides society into two classes
nonowning workers and nonworker owners. Marx
called the resulting situation "alienation," and
said that when the workers repossessed the fruits
of their labor, alienation would be overcome and
class divisions would cease. The Marxist theory
of history posits class struggle as history's
driving force, and sees capitalism as the most
recent and most critical historical stage--most
critical because at this stage the proletariat
(Lowest-ranking socioeconomic classes) will at
last arise united. The failure of the 1848
European revolutions and an increasing need to
elaborate on Marxist theory, whose orientation is
more analytical than practical, led to such
adaptations as Leninism and Maoism the collapse
of the Soviet Union and China's adoption of many
elements of a free-market economy seemed to mark
the end of Marxism as an applicable economic or
governmental theory, though it retains interest
as a critique of market capitalism and a theory
of historical change.
34
Laissez-faire
(French "allow to do") Policy dictating a
minimum of governmental interference in the
economic affairs of individuals and society. It
was promoted by the physiocrats and strongly
supported by A. Smith and J. S. Mill. Widely
accepted in the 19th cent., laissez-faire assumed
that the individual who pursues his own desires
contributes most successfully to society as a
whole. The function of the state is to maintain
order and avoid interfering with individual
initiative. The popularity of the laissez-faire
doctrine waned in the late 19th cent., when it
proved inadequate to deal with the social and
economic problems caused by industrialization.
35
Evolution
Evolution Education
Cosmic Evolution
The Evolution Wing
NASA Structure and Evolution of the Universe
36
Utopia and Dystopia
Utopia A society or place that is perfect or
ideal Dystopia A society or place whose
imperfection is perfect or who's evil is ideal
More on Utopia and Dystopia
37
Wells Theory Of Time Travel
Theories of Time Travel
Back to Main
Review Questions
38
Wells concept of Time Travel is identified
through his main character, the Time Traveler.
Wells explains that the theory has been examined,
and a few scientists believe in the concept, yet
cant conceive how it could be accomplished. The
following excerpt from the book shows the line of
thought 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.' 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. Nor, having only length,
breadth, and thickness, can a cube have a real
existence.' So most people think. But wait a
moment. Can an INSTANTANEOUS cube
exist?' Clearly,' the Time Traveller proceeded,
any real body must have extension in FOUR
directions it must have Length, Breadth,
Thickness, and--Duration. THERE IS NO DIFFERENCE
BETWEEN TIME AND ANY OF THE THREE DIMENSIONS OF
SPACE EXCEPT THAT OUR CONSCIOUSNESS MOVES ALONG
IT. 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 thee dimensions they
could represent one of four--if they could master
the perspective of the thing. See?'
Back To Main
39
Concepts of Time Travel
Wells asserts that the manipulation of the fourth
dimension, time, has been speculated on by
scientists. Books have alluded to the concept.
Today, there is a one main theory to harness
energy for the dynamics of time travel, and lots
of opinion from leading scientists and scholars
on the possibility or impossibility of time
travel.
Time Travel (an optimistic View)
Carl Sagan Speaks on Time Travel
Everything you Wanted to know About
Time Travel
Time Travel Paradoxes
How stuff works
Popular Science
40
Questions for Review
Chapters 1 and 2
Chapters 3 and 4
Chapter 5
Chapters 6 and 7
Chapters 8 - 10
Chapters 11, 12 and Epilogue
Main Index
Author Index
Book Index
Time Travel Index
Social Messages Index
Quit
41
Chapters 1 and 2 1) Is the idea of people
sitting around in someones home talking about
abstract concepts like time travel a normal thing
in our time? Why or why not. 2) (page 12) What
is the impact of the statement by the Medical Man
when he questions the time traveler, Or is this
a trick -- like that ghost you showed us last
Christmas? 3) Why does the author only give us
professions, and not names, of most of his
characters 4) What problem would there be if
someone were to appear in the same space as
another object? 5) What were the possibilities
the guests felt that time travel could offer? 6)
(page 17) What is meant by the term,
Nebuchadnezzar phases? 7) Why does the Time
Traveler want to go into the future?
42
Chapters 3 and 4 1) How does the appearance of
the Eloi lead the Time Traveler to believe they
are living communistically? What are the
drawbacks the Time Traveler identifies to the way
the Eloi are living? 2) How is the world of the
Eloi in these chapters so opposite to the world
of Wells time? 3) What does the Time Traveler
find odd about the Eloi? 4) (page 35) The Time
Traveler makes a comment about the similarity of
the sexes. Interpret his meaning in the following
statement ... for the strength of a man and
the softness of a woman, the institution of
the family, and the differentiation of
occupations are mere militant necessities of
an age of physical force 5) (pages 37-41) Wells
expounds on the rise of technology to the point
that it mastered nature , human interaction and
the family structure. Does he feel this is a good
thing or a bad thing? Should human intelligence
be employed to just make life easier? If so, who
should it benefit?
Review Index
43
Questions for Chapter 5

• What did the Time Traveler conclude about what
  happened to cause this society to happen when he
  discovered the subterranean world?
• Why didnt the Time Traveler feel that the girl
  he rescued from the river would be grateful for
  his saving her life?
• How did the Time Traveler describe the new
  creatures he discovered?
• What did the Time Traveler attribute to the
  existence of the two different descendants of
  mankind and their differing lifestyles?
• Describe the symbiotic relationship of the
  Morlock and Eloi.

Back to Index
44
Questions for Chapter 6 and 7

• What is the significance of the two flowers the
  Time Traveler showed his guests?
• After the visit to the underground world of the
  Morlocks, the Time Traveler determines that there
  is another reason for the development of these
  two species. What is the reason?
• Why does the Time Traveler unite with the Eloi to
  improve them instead of the Morlocks?
• In what ways is the world of the Eloi a
  paradise?
• In what ways is the world of the Morlocks the
  opposite of a paradise?
• Between the Morlocks and Eloi, which are more
  like us and why?

Back to Index
45
Questions for Chapter 8 through 10

• Describe the museum. What is he able to see and
  what is missing in the description of the
  artifacts that you would expect to see after some
  800,000 years?
• The Morlocks take the time machine and then open
  the doors so the Time Traveler can get to it.
  What does this say about the Morlocks?
• These chapters conclude the philosophical
  discussion of the development of the human race.
  What is his final decision about what must be
  done? Does he think there is any hope for the
  Eloi or Morlock?
• What happens to Weena?

Back to Index
46
Questions for Chapter 11, 12 and Epilogue

• Describe the changes in the sun and sunset as the
  Time Traveler goes into the future.
• Describe the evidences of life.
• Why would the Time Traveler go back into the
  future if it didnt provide him the satisfaction
  he expected?
• When would he stop in the future? Would he stop
  periodically along the way, or proceed directly
  to where he left off when he escaped the
  Morlocks?
• Wells alludes to a world that reaches a pinnacle
  of technology and understanding and then
  regresses to where it began. Provide evidences
  from the book that supports his theory.

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