Herbert George Wells (September 21, 1866 – August 13, 1946) was an English writer, historian, and social commentator, often called the 'Father of Science Fiction' alongside Jules Verne. His works are not only literary classics but also astonishing visions of the future.
In novels and essays written between 1895 and 1945, Wells predicted atomic bombs, tanks, aerial warfare, space travel, genetic engineering, laser weapons, world wars, television, and global communication networks. Many of these predictions came true within decades of his death.
Unlike mystical prophets, Wells's predictions were grounded in deep insight into scientific and technological trends. His 1914 novel The World Set Free accurately depicted the concept of atomic bombs, 31 years before Hiroshima. This site compiles his 16 most famous predictions with real-world verification.
Core Message
"If we don't end war, war will end us." — Things to Come (1936)
1895 — Published The Time Machine, pioneering modern science fiction1898 — Published The War of the Worlds, first depicting alien invasion and heat-ray weapons1903 — Published The Land Ironclads, predicting tanks1914 — Published The World Set Free, predicting atomic bombs and nuclear war1933 — Published The Shape of Things to Come, predicting World War II1945 — One year before death, witnessed Hiroshima confirming his 31-year-old prediction
Prophecies extracted from Wells's published novels and essays (Project Gutenberg )
Verification based on public historical records, news reports, and technology history (Wikipedia )
Editorial opinions do not represent academic consensus
Site icon: tripod symbol — the Martian tripod fighting machine from Wells's War of the Worlds is one of the most iconic images in science fiction history
H.G. Wells Prophecies All Prophecies 16 Q&A entries in total
Tanks: Armored Land Vehicles
H.G. Wells: "The land ironclads—huge, impervious steel vehicles—crawled over the fields like great beetles, crushing wire fences and shelters, with men inside working machine guns." — The Land Ironclads (1903)
Atomic Bomb: Nuclear Fission Weapon
H.G. Wells: "The atomic bombs—no bigger than an orange—contained an unimaginable destructive atomic energy. Once dropped, they did not explode in one instant but kept on exploding, an incessant blaze amid the ruins for days." — The World Set Free (1914)
Aerial Warfare: Bombing Cities from the Air
H.G. Wells: "Fleets of airships swept over cities, dropping devastating bombs, turning entire cities to rubble in flames. Civilization would crumble under aerial bombardment." — The War in the Air (1908)
World War II
H.G. Wells: "In January 1940, war breaks out in Europe... Germany attacks Poland... then the conflict spreads worldwide." — The Shape of Things to Come (1933)
Laser Weapons: Heat-Ray
H.G. Wells: "An invisible, intensely hot beam swept over the crowd. Wherever it touched, everything burst into flames—trees, houses, bodies. It was a weapon of concentrated heat beyond human understanding." — The War of the Worlds (1898)
Automatic Doors and Sensors
H.G. Wells: "Doors opened automatically as one approached, without touching anything. Lights in rooms turned on automatically when someone entered." — When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)
Television and Video Communication
H.G. Wells: "In that era, there was a device that could transmit moving pictures and sound simultaneously to distant places. People could sit at home and see events happening thousands of miles away." — When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)
World Wide Web: Universal Encyclopedia
H.G. Wells: "A world encyclopaedia... all human knowledge will be collected, indexed, organized, and made available to everyone through a worldwide network at any time. It would be a permanent World Brain." — World Brain (1938)
Genetic Engineering and Biological Modification
H.G. Wells: "Dr. Moreau on his island reshaped animals with scalpels and chemicals, giving them human form and partial intelligence. He believed the shape of life could be artificially remade." — The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)
Space Travel: Moon Landing
H.G. Wells: "Cavorite blocked gravity, and the spherical craft rose slowly through the atmosphere toward the Moon. They landed on the lunar surface, bounced in low gravity, and discovered an underground lunar civilization." — The First Men in the Moon (1901)
Scale of World War I
H.G. Wells: "The next war will be unlike any before. It will be a total, mechanized war in which the entire industrial power of nations will be engaged, and civilians will suffer alongside soldiers." — Anticipations (1901)
World Government and League of Nations
H.G. Wells: "After the war, nations will be forced to form a world governing body to maintain peace. Nation-states will cede some sovereignty to this supranational organization, or humanity will march toward destruction through repeated wars." — Anticipations (1901) and later works
Voice Recording and Playback Devices
H.G. Wells: "In that era, books will be replaced by a portable device. People can hear any book read aloud anytime, anywhere, and knowledge dissemination will no longer depend on paper." — When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)
Nuclear Power Generation
H.G. Wells: "Atomic energy is not only a force of destruction but also of construction. When humanity learns to control atomic fission energy, it will become an inexhaustible power source driving entire cities." — The World Set Free (1914)
Chemical Weapons and Gas Warfare
H.G. Wells: "Future battlefields will be shrouded in toxic smoke and gas; soldiers will need gas masks to fight. Chemical weapons will make warfare more brutal and inhumane." — Anticipations (1901) and The War in the Air (1908)
European Union-Style Unification
H.G. Wells: "After catastrophic wars, European nations will be forced toward economic and political unification. A united Europe will replace warring nation-states." — The New World Order (1940)
Prophecy Verification Evaluating predictions against reality for expired time points
Scale of World War I
H.G. Wells: "The next war will be unlike any before. It will be a total, mechanized war in which the entire industrial power of nations will be engaged, and civilians will suffer alongside soldiers." — Anticipations (1901)
World War I (1914-1918) was indeed history's first total industrialized war. Machine guns, poison gas, aircraft, and tanks were deployed; nations mobilized their full industrial capacity; civilian casualties were massive. Wells's 1901 prediction of 'total, mechanized war' was fully confirmed.
Chemical Weapons and Gas Warfare
H.G. Wells: "Future battlefields will be shrouded in toxic smoke and gas; soldiers will need gas masks to fight. Chemical weapons will make warfare more brutal and inhumane." — Anticipations (1901) and The War in the Air (1908)
On April 22, 1915, German forces first used chlorine gas on a large scale at the Battle of Ypres, beginning the chemical weapons era. Mustard gas and other agents were widely used thereafter, and gas masks became standard WWI equipment. Wells's predictions about 'toxic gas on battlefields' and 'gas masks' were fully confirmed.
Tanks: Armored Land Vehicles
H.G. Wells: "The land ironclads—huge, impervious steel vehicles—crawled over the fields like great beetles, crushing wire fences and shelters, with men inside working machine guns." — The Land Ironclads (1903)
On September 15, 1916, British forces deployed tanks (Mark I) in the Battle of the Somme, 13 years after Wells's description. His details of armored vehicles crushing wire fences and shelters with machine guns operated from inside closely match actual tanks. Winston Churchill publicly acknowledged the influence of Wells's story on the tank concept.
World Government and League of Nations
H.G. Wells: "After the war, nations will be forced to form a world governing body to maintain peace. Nation-states will cede some sovereignty to this supranational organization, or humanity will march toward destruction through repeated wars." — Anticipations (1901) and later works
The League of Nations (1920) and United Nations (1945) partially confirmed Wells's vision. Nations did form supranational organizations for peace. But Wells envisioned a true world government with sovereignty transfer, which remains far from reality—the UN is more a coordinating body than a world government.
Television and Video Communication
H.G. Wells: "In that era, there was a device that could transmit moving pictures and sound simultaneously to distant places. People could sit at home and see events happening thousands of miles away." — When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)
In 1936, the BBC began the world's first regular public television broadcasting service. Wells's 1899 description of a 'device transmitting moving pictures and sound to distant places' is exactly the concept of television. Later video communication (Skype 2003, FaceTime 2010) further confirmed his vision of remote visual communication.
World War II
H.G. Wells: "In January 1940, war breaks out in Europe... Germany attacks Poland... then the conflict spreads worldwide." — The Shape of Things to Come (1933)
On September 1, 1939, Germany invaded Poland, starting WWII. Wells predicted in 1933 that Germany would attack Poland and trigger a world war, off by only months (novel said January 1940, actual was September 1939). The core scenario—Germany attacking Poland and war spreading globally—was fully confirmed.
Aerial Warfare: Bombing Cities from the Air
H.G. Wells: "Fleets of airships swept over cities, dropping devastating bombs, turning entire cities to rubble in flames. Civilization would crumble under aerial bombardment." — The War in the Air (1908)
From 1940 to 1945, aerial bombing became a core WWII tactic. The London Blitz (1940-1941), Dresden bombing (1945), and Tokyo firebombing (1945) fully confirmed Wells's vision of air power destroying cities. He even foresaw that this form of warfare would shake the foundations of civilization.
Atomic Bomb: Nuclear Fission Weapon
H.G. Wells: "The atomic bombs—no bigger than an orange—contained an unimaginable destructive atomic energy. Once dropped, they did not explode in one instant but kept on exploding, an incessant blaze amid the ruins for days." — The World Set Free (1914)
On August 6 and 9, 1945, the US dropped atomic bombs on Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Wells predicted not only the name 'atomic bomb' 31 years earlier, but also air-dropped weapons causing city-level destruction. Physicist Leo Szilard stated that this novel inspired his thinking about nuclear chain reactions.
Nuclear Power Generation
H.G. Wells: "Atomic energy is not only a force of destruction but also of construction. When humanity learns to control atomic fission energy, it will become an inexhaustible power source driving entire cities." — The World Set Free (1914)
In 1956, Britain's Calder Hall became the world's first commercial nuclear power station. As of 2025, about 440 nuclear reactors operate globally, providing roughly 10% of world electricity. Wells's 1914 prediction about 'controlling atomic energy as a city power source' was fully confirmed.
Automatic Doors and Sensors
H.G. Wells: "Doors opened automatically as one approached, without touching anything. Lights in rooms turned on automatically when someone entered." — When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)
In the 1960s, automatic sensor doors became common in commercial buildings. Dee Horton and Lew Hewitt invented the first modern automatic door in 1954. Motion-sensing lighting systems became widespread in the 1980s. Wells's 1899 descriptions of these automated devices were remarkably accurate.
Space Travel: Moon Landing
H.G. Wells: "Cavorite blocked gravity, and the spherical craft rose slowly through the atmosphere toward the Moon. They landed on the lunar surface, bounced in low gravity, and discovered an underground lunar civilization." — The First Men in the Moon (1901)
On July 20, 1969, Apollo 11 landed on the Moon and Neil Armstrong became the first person to walk on it. Wells's prediction of humans traveling to the Moon in a spacecraft and walking in low gravity came true. However, the anti-gravity substance 'Cavorite' and underground lunar civilization have not been found.
World Wide Web: Universal Encyclopedia
H.G. Wells: "A world encyclopaedia... all human knowledge will be collected, indexed, organized, and made available to everyone through a worldwide network at any time. It would be a permanent World Brain." — World Brain (1938)
In 1991, Tim Berners-Lee invented the World Wide Web; Wikipedia launched in 2001. Wells's 1938 'World Brain' concept—a global, searchable knowledge network—remarkably matches the internet and Wikipedia. Berners-Lee himself has referenced Wells's 'World Brain' as an inspiration for his work.
European Union-Style Unification
H.G. Wells: "After catastrophic wars, European nations will be forced toward economic and political unification. A united Europe will replace warring nation-states." — The New World Order (1940)
The Maastricht Treaty took effect in 1993, formally establishing the EU. Post-WWII Europe progressed from the 1951 European Coal and Steel Community toward economic and political unification, as Wells predicted. However, the EU is not a fully unified political entity, and Brexit in 2016 showed the unification process remains incomplete.
Genetic Engineering and Biological Modification
H.G. Wells: "Dr. Moreau on his island reshaped animals with scalpels and chemicals, giving them human form and partial intelligence. He believed the shape of life could be artificially remade." — The Island of Doctor Moreau (1896)
Dolly the sheep was cloned in 1996, the Human Genome Project was completed in 2003, and CRISPR gene editing emerged in 2012. While Wells described surgical rather than genetic modification, his core idea—that humans can artificially reshape life forms—has been fully realized through modern genetic engineering.
Voice Recording and Playback Devices
H.G. Wells: "In that era, books will be replaced by a portable device. People can hear any book read aloud anytime, anywhere, and knowledge dissemination will no longer depend on paper." — When the Sleeper Wakes (1899)
Audiobooks began developing in the 1930s; Amazon launched Kindle in 2007 and the Audible audiobook platform in 2008. Today, audiobook apps on smartphones let people 'listen to books' anytime. Wells's vision of 'portable devices replacing paper books' has been fully realized.
Laser Weapons: Heat-Ray
H.G. Wells: "An invisible, intensely hot beam swept over the crowd. Wherever it touched, everything burst into flames—trees, houses, bodies. It was a weapon of concentrated heat beyond human understanding." — The War of the Worlds (1898)
In 2014, the US Navy deployed the first operational Laser Weapon System (LaWS) in the Persian Gulf, capable of destroying drones and small boats with concentrated light energy. Wells's 1898 concept of a 'concentrated heat-ray weapon' closely matches the principle of modern laser weapons.