@inbook{94bc033945cd403baa83d942f61ca3e1,
title = "Prickly pears and Martian weeds: ecological invasion narratives in history and fiction",
abstract = "In 1898, R. A. Gregory, the editor of Nature, published a review of H. G. Wells{\textquoteright}s novel, The War of the Worlds, under the title {\textquoteleft}Science in Fiction{\textquoteright}. Gregory praised Wells for his {\textquoteleft}ingenuity in manipulating scientific material{\textquoteright}, noting Wells{\textquoteright}s engagement with Percival Lowell{\textquoteright}s astronomical observations of Mars, his speculation regarding the evolutionary development and technological prowess of the Martian invaders, and the {\textquoteleft}distinctly clever{\textquoteright} plot twist centring around the Martians{\textquoteright} susceptibility to earthly germs (Gregory, 1898: 339). Both the specific points of scientific interest identified by Gregory and the fact that Gregory regarded Wells{\textquoteright}s novel as warranting a review in the preeminent science journal of the period suggest the extent of Wells{\textquoteright}s engagement with contemporary science.",
keywords = "Environmental humanities, H. G. Wells, Ecological invasion narratives, Prickly pear, The War of the Worlds",
author = "Christina Alt",
year = "2014",
month = apr,
day = "14",
language = "English",
isbn = "9780415716567",
series = "Routledge environmental humanities",
publisher = "Routledge Taylor & Francis Group",
pages = "137--148",
editor = "Jodi Frawley and Iain McCalman",
booktitle = "Rethinking invasion ecologies from the environmental humanities",
address = "United States",
}
