Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) has been called the father of science fiction. His notable works include the War of the Worlds (1897), the Time Machine (1895), the Invisible Man (1897) and the Island of Doctor Moreau (1896). He also wrote on topics related to history and social commentary. His novels—Kipps and the History of Mr. Polly—which describe lower-middle class life, led to the suggestion that he was a worthy successor to Charles Dickens. He described a range of social strata and even attempted, in Tono-Bungay (1909), a diagnosis of English society as a whole.
Wells died in London on August 13, 1946, after living through two World Wars. the War of the Worlds has been both popular (having never gone out of print) and influential, spawning half a dozen feature films, radio dramas, a record album, various comic book adaptations, a television series and sequels or parallel stories by other authors. it has even influenced the work of scientists, notably Robert Hutchings Goddard.