The Time Machine
by: H.G. Wells
The Scientific Romance and the
Evolutionary Paradigm
By: Roger Luckhurst
Presented By:
• Andy Wahba
• Ben Baker
• Ryan Gress
• Roger is a Professor at Birkbeck College,
University of London.
• He wrote many reviews about stories.
that were written in the late 19th Century.
• In 1995 he won SFRA for his review "The
Many Deaths of Science Fiction: A
Polemic."
The Scientific Romance and the
Evolutionary Paradigm
• H.G. Wells did not only write about Scientific
Fiction in the 1890’s.
• He also wrote about Gothic Tales (Island of Dr.
Moreau)
• Social Comedies (Wheels of Chance)
• Whimsical fantasies about angelic visitations
(The Wonderful Visit)
• Journalisms (Certain Personal Matters)
Wells’ Idea
• Wells received some ideas for his scientific
writings from Grant Allen.
• Allen was a seasoned writer in Scientific
Novels. His most famous novel was
“Physiological Aesthetics.”
• Basically Allen paved the way for Wells’
Scientific Romance ideas.
Wells’ Idea Continued…
• With Wells’ accomplishments in writing during
the 1890s, scientific romance became such a
popular topic it joined the normal
conversation of the day.
• Wells simply used scientific experiments and
theories and organized them into an
interesting story which people would enjoy
reading and could, in some ways, relate to.
• Wells popularized what Allen was trying to
produce years before, and he suceeded.
Luckhurst on
The Time
Machine
• Luckhurst believed The Time Machine was an
excellent novel that Wells used to express many
points.
• He says, “What I want to do here is establish how
in The Time Machine, Wells crystallized the
possibilities of the scientific romance from inside
an evolutionary paradigm.”
• Luckhurst really enjoyed the book, and Wells’
other writings, and is striving to praise his
accomplishments.
• Luckhurst is using his article to show how the
Time Machine was not only a novel.
• He uses Allen’s work as a precursor to Wells’
work, and then uses Bellamy’s ideas as a type
of proof.
• By doing this, Luckhurst somewhat concretes
his appreciation to the Time Machine.