And now we start the tale proper, and we see what appears to be the remnants of humanity, grown weak and careless from all challenges in the world being conquered. A valid evolutionary theory? Probably not! Heck, even the Time Traveler admits he's wrong, though that is in hindsight to some as-yet-undisclosed evidence....
Our cover art this time around comes from Classics Illustrated #133 from 1956, painted by Lou Cameron. There's a lot to really love about this cover, with little details like the fading sun and the phases of the moon.I'm also rather fond of his depiction of the Time Machine itself, incorporating some of the few details Wells included, like the dual lever control and the saddle (though at the time, "saddle" could also mean a bicycle seat, and as Wells was a bicycling enthusiast many think that's what he meant), while making look cleverly like a gyroscope. Many other artists would rip off this design in years to come.
Oh, and I also love how the Time Traveler looks like Ward Cleaver.
Notes after the jump! They're as numerous as last time, more or less, but somewhat less involved.
At 4:00, the Time Traveler states that his first experience traveling in time felt like riding a switchback, which was a term for a roller coaster at the time (and 1895 roller coasters were no joke. There's a reason that loops aren't circular.)
While observing the future people, the Time Traveler (...let's call him "TT" from now on, shall we?) was unable to tell is they were wearing sandals or buskins, where buskins are boots or sandals that go up to the knee. Shortly afterwards, at 15:05, he compares them to "Dresden china," which was a type of porcelain often used for intricate and thus very fragile work, often figurines that were of course purely decorative and had no practical use.
Just before tucking into his fruit feast, TT recognizes what appear to be "hypertrophied" raspberries and oranges. Seeing it written out rather than hearing it, it's a little easier to figure out that it means the opposite of "atrophied": grown to an enormous size.
At 21:07, he states that all animals (such as cattle, sheep, dogs, etc.) are all as extinct as the Ichthyosaurus. I mean, I'm gonna assume that most of you were children at one point and thus obsessed with dinosaurs, and therefore know what an Ichthyosaur is (YES I KNOW IT'S NOT A DINOSAUR). However, I never miss an opportunity to evangelize about the discoverer of the first complete specemin, Mary Anning. Ms. Anning is often considered by people -- now -- to be essentially the first real paleontologist, but her achievements were largely overlooked throughout the nineteenth century. The Ichthyosaur, though, became a phenomenon. It was one of the first known true examples of a fossil that was not just a different version of a still-living creature (like mammoths, say), but something completely different: a giant fish-like reptile. This caused many to rethink how things worked: the time scales involved that must have passed from the time of this creature to the present, and how animals could be made like that and go extinct, not just change. Ultimately, it helped lead to the Darwinian revolution, probably the most important discovery in the history of biology. Mary Anning deserves some of that credit.
And last, and a little less didactically, at 24:24 he mentions aluminium. Now, I'm not using a British accent here, but I had to keep the proper British spelling and pronunciation of this. This is another of those cases where the US has to be different than everyone else, though at least we've got Canada on our side in this one (better than the metric system, where we've got, like, Chad.) The confusion goes back pretty much to its discovery, as Humphry Davy used both versions along with "alumium" in his writings. "Aluminium" became predominant, but "aluminum" became more popular in the US due to our primary aluminum manufacturer, who used that spelling. Fun!
That's all for now. 'Til next time!
If you would like to read along, the text can be found at Project Gutenberg. No reading ahead, though!
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