Wells was interested in the implications of evolutionary theory on the future of human beings at the biological, sociological, and cultural levels, and The Time Machine, short and readable, draws on many of the social and scientific debates of the time. The Broadview edition of this science fiction classic includes extensive materials on Wells’s scientific and political influences.
Nicholas Ruddick is a professor of English at the University of Regina, is the author of Ultimate Island: On the Nature of British Science Fiction, and other critical works on science fiction.