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Re: War of the Words

Hello Steve, Darryl and List,

At the risk of deviating too far from the meteorite nature of this List, I
want to offer the following regarding our discussion on H. G. Wells:

Darryl points out the Suez Canal was "THE event of that era." I will not
dispute this issue, however the concept for the Suez Canal was discussed by
Napoleon in 1800, and the project began in 1859. The Canal was completed in
1869 when Wells was a mere 3 years old, and "War" was not published until
almost 3 additional decades had passed.

In addition, Wells' earlier works seem to indicate a curiosity driven by
forces other than canals. Here are his first major published works:

1894-THE LORD OF THE DYNAMOS
1895-THE STOLEN BACILLUS AND OTHER STORIES
1895-THE TIME MACHINE
1896-THE ISLAND OF DOCTOR MOREAU
1897-THE INVISIBLE MAN
1897-THE VALLEY OF SPIDERS
1898-THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

Like many good writers, Wells followed the ebbs and flows of society,
culture, and news events for stimulus regarding new stories. If there is a
major influence here, I would offer that Charles Darwin's writings more
than the Suez Canal defined Well's early work.

Regarding Steve's post of researches into life in meteorites:

Steve, it sounds like a good article for one of our reads such as M! When I
read about the chronology of events of life in meteorites, I'm convinced it
would make a wonderful read. Better hurry before Michael Crichton makes
another attempt at the theme (remember, he required a returned space probe
for his first attempt).

Sincerely,

Martin
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