Herbert George Wells (original) (raw)

September 21, 1866- August 13, 1946"Scientist, novelist, sociologist, prophet" An early science fiction writer, Wells also wrote historical and scientific texts, and much fiction. Author of "The Rediscovery of the Unique", published in The Fortnightly Review (1891), Wells' early novels include The Time Machine(1895), The Invisible Man (1897), The Island of Dr. Moreau(1896) and The War of the Worlds(1898). His Anticipations of the Reaction of Mechanical and Scientific Progress Upon Human Life and Thought (1901), The Discovery of the Future (1902) and Mankind in the Making (1903) lead to his membership in the Fabian Society. Leaving the society in 1908, and later disillusioned by what he saw in Russia, Wells published _The Outline of History_in 1920. His novel The Shape of Things to Come (1933) — in which a world devastated by war is rebuilt with humanist technology — was turned into a film in 1936. Conspiracy theorists have labelled Wells both an illuminati and freemason because of his 1929 book Imperialism and the open conspiracy. Although he parodied Freemasonry in The Inexperienced Ghost and his name has appeared in several online lists of famous freemasons, there does not appear to be any justification for claiming him as a freemason. Non-mason See : Ars Quatuor Coronatorum. vol. xx (1907), a note refers to him as "Mr. Wells." David Low’s Low’s Autobiography has numerous references to Wells, many not noted in the index, but none refer to him being a freemason. An uncited reference to "Bro. Wells" is made on page 24 of the October 2001 issue of American Mason, Sag Harbor, NY. There is no reference to Freemasonry in Imperialism and the open conspiracy. London: Faber & Faber, 1929.