Other editions of book The First Men in the Moon

The First Men in the Moon is a scientific romance published in 1901 by the English author H. G. Wells, who called it one of his "fantastic stories". The novel tells the story of a journey to the moon undertaken by the two protagonists, a businessman narrator, Mr. Bedford, and an eccentric scientist, Mr. Cavor. Bedford and Cavor discover that the moon is inhabited by a sophisticated extraterrestrial civilization of insect-like creatures they call "Selenites".

The most dazzling of Wells' "scientific romances" and the last of the series that began with The Time Machine, this edition offers the only annotated version of The First Men in the Moon. Wells combines subtle comedy and thrilling adventure in this engaging satire of imperialism and human frailty in which the heroes invade the moon, only to be captured by the ant-like Selenites. Wells established a new level of the science fiction genre with his fantastical but subtle writing. The explanatory notes in this edition clarify Wells' rich allusions and elucidate the scientific aspects of the moon voyage.

At the village of Lympne, on the south coast of England, the "most uneventful place in the world" the failed playwright Mr. Bedford meets the brilliant inventor Mr. Cavor, and together they invade the moon. Dreaming respectively of scientific renown and of mineral wealth, they fashion a sphere from the gravity-defying substance Cavorite and go where no human has gone before. They expect a dead world, but instead they find lunar plants that grow in a single day, giant moon-calves and the ant-like Selenites, the super-adapted inhabitants of the Moon's utopian society. The First Men in the Moon is both an inspired and imaginative fantasy of space travel and alien life, and a satire of turn-of-the-century Britain and of utopian dreams of a wholly ordered and rational society.

H.G.(Herbert George) Wells (1866-1946), born of lower middle class parents, was largely self-educated. A government scholarship allowed him to attended the Royal College of Science where he studied with Thomas Henry Huxley. Although he wrote a number of different types of fiction as well as non-fiction, he is best remembered for his science fiction. His firm grounding in science shows forth in this genre. In 1938, Orson Welles, broadcast a dramatization on radio of H. G. Wells' novel "The War of the Worlds", which was so believable that people fled their homes to avoid the Martian invasion.

H G Wells is one of the 'fathers' of Science Fiction. His novel 'The First Men in the Moon' chronicles humanity's first faltering steps to the stars. The story uses a human-meets-alien adventure to juxtapose two characters whose temperaments personify the extremes of scientific endeavour - the disinterested researcher and the seeker after fame and fortune. Wells' description of spaceflight, including weightlessness, low-gravity gymnastics on the moon and re-entry angles for returning spacecraft, have all proved amazingly prescient. His books have retained their popularity with the public for more than a century.

This anthology is a thorough introduction to classic literature for those who have not yet experienced these literary masterworks. For those who have known and loved these works in the past, this is an invitation to reunite with old friends in a fresh new format. From Shakespeare s finesse to Oscar Wilde s wit, this unique collection brings together works as diverse and influential as The Pilgrim s Progress and Othello. As an anthology that invites readers to immerse themselves in the masterpieces of the literary giants, it is must-have addition to any library.

Two men left for the moon -- but only one will come back. . . . Cavor, a brilliant scientist, accidentally produces a gravity-defying substance. And what to do with a substance like that? Well, if it's the turn of the twentieth century, when Wells was writing, the only thing to do was build a spaceship and travel to the moon. Cavor just wants to understand the moon, but along on the trip with him is Bedford, a cold and calculating business man who's in it for nothing but money. Instead of insight and gold they encounter the Selenites, a horrifying race of biologically engineered creatures vaguely reminiscent of jumped-up ants, who viciously -- and successfully -- defend their home. . . . "Why do people read science fiction? In hopes of receiving such writing as this -- a ravishingly accurate vision of things unseen; an utterly unexpected yet necessary beauty." -- Ursula K. Le Guin

H. G. Wells' 1901 science fiction novel, "The First Men in the Moon", is the story of an impoverished businessman, Mr. Bedford, who retreats to the countryside for some rest from the weary of modern life and to try his hand at authoring a play. While there he meets an eccentric scientist, Dr. Cavor, who is developing a new material, 'cavorite', which is designed to shield off gravity. When it is discovered that the material works and can be practically fashioned into a spaceship, the two undertake a mission to the moon. There they discover that the moon is inhabited by a sinister alien civilization, whom the call "the Selenites". Fashioned as a criticism against imperialism, "The First Men in the Moon" draws upon a theme common to Wells' work, that of the impact of technology on society and the challenges that humans face in the modern world.