War of the Worlds by HG Wells

It has already attracted some controversy over the dramatic illustrations of the possible danger of from aliens.

The original radio play by Orson Welles' was broadcast Oct. 30, 1938 in America and caused many thousands of listeners to get in a panic thinking that aliens had really landed.   The whole business is based on a famous novel by H G Wells. His book, set in Victorian England and about an invasion from Mars, remains as popular as ever as when it was originally published in 1898.

I read the book at school in 1960 and was most impressed.  It gave me nightmares for many months worrying about how a tripod legged creature could possibly manoeuvre at all.  You think about it - that is why people and animals normally have 2 or 4 legs and not 3 legs.  That led to my lifelong interest in spacecraft and robotic attitude control and dynamics.

The new movie is one of Steven Spielberg's big screen creations in the great epic genre.  There are loads of special effects and scary bits.  The UK censors have said it is unsuitable for kids under 12 years old but many pundits advise that even this is too young.  It is hard to say, if the kids read the book might they be more scared by their imagination ?  Might they be motivated to study maths, physics and science ?

H.G Wells was born in 1866 and went to school at Midhurst Grammar School, Kent.  He studied Biology at college under the guidance of T H Huxley.  He graduated in 1890 and worked as a teacher for some time before concentrating on his writing from 1893 onwards.   His most well known books are The Time Machine, The Invisible Man and The War Of The Worlds.   He died in 1946.

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