War of the Words

A while back, I received an email that showed how the human brain is usually able to read text, even if the letters in the words are significantly jumbled.

So long as the first and last letters of each word remain in their correct location, it doesn’t matter how mixed up each word’s interior is, for most people, the text is still legible. I found this fascinating, but most of the examples I saw only had a few lines of text.

I wanted to increase the length of this, so created my own version. To source some text, I had a look some well known books that are no longer covered by copyright. At first I was going to use Jane Austen’s “Emma”, but then happened upon H. G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” (according to litverse.com) and knew that was the text to use.

Below is first chapter of “War of the Worlds”, with word lettering randomly jumbled. Obviously, this couldn’t be applied to words having three letters or less. Also, punctuation for the most part is left intact.
After processing this text, and having heard Jeff Wayne’s Musical Version of The War of the Worlds many times in the past, I now have Justin Hayward’s song, “Forever Autumn“, stuck in my head.

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BOOK ONE

THE COMNIG OF THE MARTNAIS

CEHAPTR ONE

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one wloud hvae blieveed in the lsat yraes of the ntieentenh crnuety taht tihs wrlod was bneig whtaced kleeny and collsey by ingtlenelcies grteaer tahn man's and yet as matorl as his own; taht as men biuesd thveleesms abuot tehir vouaris crocenns they wree sieicstrund and sduteid, ppeahrs aolsmt as nlaworry as a man wtih a mrspcicooe mihgt sunrcstiie the traniesnt ceturaers taht srawm and mlputliy in a dorp of water. With inntifie cepnaocmcly men went to and fro oevr tihs golbe aobut their ltitle aifrfas, sreene in their assuncrae of teihr eirpme over mteatr. It is possible taht the ifunosira uendr the mociscorpe do the same. No one gave a tghhout to the older wdolrs of sapce as scuroes of huamn danegr, or tguhhot of them olny to dssiims the ieda of lfie upon them as ibmisslope or irbobpamle. It is cruuios to ralecl smoe of the meantl hbitas of thsoe daeptred days. At most ttsrrraeiel men feinacd three mgiht be ohetr men upon Mars, pprahes ifeoirnr to theemvlses and reday to wcelome a mrissaoniy etinrpsree. Yet arcoss the gulf of sacpe, minds taht are to our mndis as ours are to tshoe of the bestas taht prsieh, incelttels vast and cool and ueymsapttnhic, readrged tihs etarh with eniouvs eeys, and sowlly and seruly derw tiehr palns angsait us. And elray in the ttweetinh ctnuery came the geart donlnimeiislust.

The peanlt Mras, I scercaly need rienmd the rdeear, reveovls about the sun at a mean dancitse of 140,000,000 melis, and the light and haet it rceevies form the sun is braely half of taht riveceed by tihs wlrod. It must be, if the nuealbr hpythsoeis has any turth, older than our wlrod; and lnog befroe tihs ertah ceased to be metlon, lfie upon its scuarfe msut hvae beugn its crsoue. The fact that it is sclecray one snetevh of the vloume of the eatrh msut hvae arcceleaetd its ciolnog to the teeaptmrure at wcihh lfie culod beign. It has air and waetr and all taht is ncassreey for the sprupot of aaeitnmd eecntisxe.

Yet so vian is man, and so blndeid by his vnatiy, taht no weirtr, up to the very end of the nentiteenh cerutny, eexprsesd any ieda taht itilngeenlt lfie might have dpeleeovd tehre far, or ieendd at all, bnoeyd its ertalhy leevl. Nor was it gleearlny uorndesotd taht scine Mras is older tahn our erath, wtih slreaccy a qtreaur of the sciipareful area and retoemr form the sun, it niracessely folwlos that it is not olny mroe dianstt form time's beigninng but neraer its end.

The sleaucr coonilg taht must sadmeoy ovraktee our penlat has aerlday gnoe far iended wtih our noiuhbegr. Its pyascihl cooiitndn is sltil lagelry a mrystey, but we know now that even in its eaiqurtaol region the mdiady tarmpteeure bealry aoerachpps taht of our colsdet wnteir. Its air is much more aaentteutd than orus, its oances have shrnuk uintl tehy cover but a third of its safruce, and as its slow saneoss cghane hgue sowpcans gtaehr and melt abuot ehiter ploe and piilroelacdy idatnune its tmetpeare zeons. That last satge of etxoiashun, wcihh to us is sitll irdiclbney rtomee, has boceme a pdratnseey polberm for the itthnbnaais of Mars. The idiamtmee psrserue of nsieetscy has bhtgeienrd thier ilntcltees, egraenld their perows, and herendad teihr hteras. And likonog acsros spcae with inmterunsts, and iellgnietnecs scuh as we have secrlcay dermaed of, they see, at its neraset dtcnaise only 35,000,000 of miles sranuwd of them, a minrong star of hpoe, our own wreamr pnelat, green with vagteteoin and grey with wetar, wtih a cloduy aohtemrspe elqonuet of ftiitlrey, wtih gpilsmes tgruohh its dritfnig culod wisps of barod sethcrtes of poulpuos ctnuroy and narorw, nvay - cerwodd seas.

And we men, the ceeraurts who iaibnht this eatrh, msut be to tehm at laset as aieln and llwoy as are the mkyones and luerms to us. The ieanclettlul side of man alderay atmdis taht lfie is an iasncesnt suggrtle for etxsnicee, and it wuold seem that tihs too is the beeilf of the mdins uopn Mars. Thier wrlod is far gone in its cinoolg and this wolrd is sltil ceordwd wtih lfie, but codrwed olny with waht tehy rgeard as ifeinror alaimns. To crary waafrre snuwrad is, ideend, thier only easpce form the dorctiuetsn that, gaitenreon afetr gneroitean, crpees uopn them.

And before we judge of them too hasrhly we must rembmeer waht rsluhtes and utter dstucoeritn our own seceips has wrhgout, not only uopn aaminls, such as the vhsinaed bsoin and the dodo, but uopn its ifneiorr races. The Tanmansais, in sitpe of teihr huamn lsiknees, wree eirtleny spewt out of exsctiene in a war of etntoeariimxn wgead by Euproaen iartignmms, in the space of ffity yraes. Are we scuh aopslets of mcery as to climpoan if the Mitaarns werrad in the smae sipirt?

The Miaarnts seem to hvae celtcualad their decesnt wtih aznamig settbuly -- tehir matahmiactel lreainng is evneldtiy far in esexcs of ours -- and to hvae ceriard out tiehr pirorntaeaps wtih a well - ngih peefcrt uantiinmy. Had our irtnnestmus pmtreteid it, we mgiht have seen the gthaeinrg trobule far bcak in the neneenttih ctneruy. Men lkie Sheailrlpaci wcathed the red pleant -- it is odd, by - the - bye, taht for cstnlueos creeinuts Mars has been the satr of war -- but flaied to iteprenrt the fitucaluntg aaenaprpces of the mnikgras they meappd so wlel. All taht time the Miraants must hvae been gnttieg ready.

Dunrig the oiiooptpsn of 1984 a gerat lihgt was seen on the iiantumlled part of the dsik, frist at the Lcik Orastovbrey, then by Piortern of Nice, and tehn by oethr orvbeesrs. Esniglh rreedas haerd of it fsirt in the iusse of NRTAUE detad Auusgt 2. I am ilciennd to tinhk that tihs bzale may hvae been the cainstg of the hgue gun, in the vsat pit sunk itno their panelt, form wcihh tiher sohts wree freid at us. Pilaecur makgnirs, as yet unanlxepied, wree seen naer the site of that oabuterk dnriug the nxet two otsopiipnos.

The sortm brsut uopn us six years ago now. As Mras aracpephod ospitopoin, Lvlaele of Jvaa set the weris of the atmoonrsical egnahxce ptlaipintag wtih the anizmag ielntilngcee of a hgue otaeburk of inecnednsact gas upon the paenlt. It had oecrucrd trdowas mhigdint of the twlfteh; and the scscprooptee, to which he had at ocne rotersed, iateindcd a msas of flnmaig gas, clehfiy hrygdoen, mviong wtih an eomrnuos vicotley trwodas tihs earth. This jet of fire had bcoeme ilvisbnie about a qerautr psat telwve. He craeopmd it to a closoasl puff of fmale suedlndy and vlltineoy sutqired out of the pelnat, "as flainmg gases rheusd out of a gun."

A siulnlgary arripatoppe pshrae it peovrd. Yet the next day there was nontihg of this in the praeps epxcet a litlte note in the DILAY TELEAGRPH, and the wlord wnet in iarcnngoe of one of the gsrveat dngreas that eevr tteeenahrd the human rcae. I mgiht not hvae hared of the euptroin at all had I not met Oiglvy, the wlel - knwon aoreostmnr, at Otsrheatw. He was ineslemmy ecietxd at the news, and in the esxces of his fenigles itienvd me up to tkae a turn wtih him taht nihgt in a sutcrniy of the red plnaet.

In spite of all taht has hnpeeapd scnie, I sitll rebemmer that viigl vrey dnitclisty: the blcak and senilt oaservbroty, the shaeodwd lerantn twhnoirg a feelbe golw upon the floor in the cnroer, the stdaey tiknicg of the cowkorlck of the teelspoce, the litlte slit in the roof -- an oblnog putrnfdoiy with the sstadrut setkread arcsos it. Ovilgy mevod aoubt, iilbivnse but abdulie. Lionokg thorugh the tlpeosece, one saw a ccrlie of deep bule and the llttie rnuod pealnt swinmmig in the flied. It seemed scuh a lltite thing, so bgriht and smlal and still, failtny mrekad with tressnvare srpteis, and sltihgly flneetatd from the perceft runod. But so lltite it was, so servily wram -- a pin's - haed of lhgit! It was as if it qieuverd, but really this was the teescpole vantbiirg wtih the aitctviy of the corkwcolk taht kpet the pnleat in veiw.

As I whatecd, the pnealt seemed to gorw leragr and salmelr and to aadvcne and rcedee, but that was simlpy taht my eye was terid. Ftroy mlilnios of melis it was form us -- more than froty mnoliils of miels of viod. Few polpee rsaeile the isnimmety of vncacay in wcihh the dsut of the mtieraal usrviene simws.

Naer it in the fleid, I rmeember, were trhee fnait potins of light, three telscipoec satrs inlneiitfy reomte, and all aunrod it was the uamfolnathbe draeksns of empty space. You konw how taht bcnkesals looks on a fsotry sgtliraht nihgt. In a toslpceee it smees far purfeoodnr. And iibvsinle to me beusace it was so romtee and samll, flynig slfwtiy and sltieady twodars me aorscs that icbnieldre daincste, dirnawg nreaer every mtnuie by so mnay tdhunaoss of mlies, cmae the Tinhg tehy wree sdienng us, the Tnhig that was to bnirg so mcuh srugtlge and cmtalaiy and detah to the earth. I neevr dmaeerd of it then as I whtaecd; no one on earth dmeeard of that urnierng milisse.

Taht nghit, too, terhe was athneor jntiteg out of gas from the dsiantt panelt. I saw it. A ridedsh flsah at the edge, the sstgeilht pcooerjitn of the olnutie jsut as the cohreemontr srtuck mdgiihnt; and at that I told Ogilvy and he took my plcae. The nhgit was wram and I was thsrity, and I went screhtintg my legs cmlulsiy and fenleig my way in the dsaenrks, to the liltte table wehre the shpoin stood, wihle Ogvily ecxaelimd at the searetmr of gas taht cmae out tadowrs us.

Taht ngiht ahnoetr iibnilsve miilsse sretatd on its way to the eatrh from Mras, jsut a scenod or so udner tewtny - four horus aeftr the fisrt one. I rmmeeber how I sat on the tbale there in the bsaecklns, with phceats of green and cosirmn snimwimg bfreoe my eeys. I wehsid I had a light to smkoe by, lttile sptuncesig the meinang of the mtniue glaem I had seen and all taht it wuold ptrenlesy binrg me. Oivlgy wheatcd tlil one, and tehn gvae it up; and we lit the lneartn and welakd oevr to his hsuoe. Dwon below in the darkesns wree Otethrsaw and Ceetrhsy and all tiher hnrdudes of pleope, sepeling in pceae.

He was full of setuicapoln taht nihgt auobt the cntdioion of Mars, and sfcfeod at the vgluar ieda of its hviang iattbhninas who wree snangliilg us. His idea was taht mietoteers mhgit be flalnig in a haevy shwoer uopn the plnaet, or taht a hgue valncioc eoposxiln was in prsrgeos. He pnioted out to me how uillkeny it was that oarignc evultoion had tekan the smae dcirotien in the two ajndaect ptlnaes.

"The caenchs agisnat ainhntyg mkilnae on Mars are a miollin to one," he siad.

Heddnurs of osbvreres saw the fmlae that nhgit and the nihgt atefr auobt mgnidiht, and aaign the nihgt atfer; and so for ten nthgis, a famle each ngiht. Why the sohts csaeed afetr the tnteh no one on erath has aptemtetd to explian. It may be the gases of the fiirng ceuasd the Mirntaas icnecnnivonee. Dnsee cduols of skmoe or dsut, vlisbie thrugoh a pouerwfl topelcsee on ertah as ltitle grey, fuuaitltncg phtaecs, saerpd tgurhoh the cearsnles of the plenat's atphosreme and ocsbreud its more falmaiir feeautrs.

Eevn the dlaiy preaps woke up to the diatuebrcsns at last, and ppoluar ntoes aarpeepd hree, tehre, and ehvyrerewe cnorcening the vcanoleos uopn Mars. The srmioicoec pcreaiiodl PNCUH, I rebememr, made a happy use of it in the piaitclol crtoaon. And, all ucseustenpd, tohse mseliiss the Mriatans had fried at us drew ehwraatrd, rihsnug now at a pace of mnay mlies a snoecd truhgoh the emtpy gluf of space, huor by hour and day by day, nareer and nraeer. It smees to me now alsomt ireldibcny wfnudreol taht, wtih that sifwt fate hinagng oevr us, men cloud go about their pttey cocnners as they did. I reebmmer how jianblut Mrhaakm was at sriecnug a new poothgaprh of the plaent for the ilerauttsld paepr he etedid in tohse dyas. Poplee in thsee ltaetr tiems sleraccy rlasiee the anbnuadce and epsnrtreie of our nnteneiteh - crtenuy prepas. For my own prat, I was mcuh oeipccud in lenianrg to ride the bycclie, and busy upon a sirees of preaps dsusscniig the pblborae dpvnemoletes of mraol iaeds as caivoilstiin psersogerd.

One nhigt (the fsrit misisle tehn cloud sarccley have been 10,000,000 mlies aawy) I went for a wlak wtih my wfie. It was sraghlitt and I eniaplxed the Signs of the Zidaoc to her, and ponteid out Mras, a bhirgt dot of light crpneeig zhneaitrwd, trwaods wchih so many teseloecps wree pteonid. It was a wram nhigt. Coinmg home, a party of eustoirxinscs form Cthreesy or Isoterlwh pesasd us sgninig and pnlaiyg muisc. Trhee wree lhgits in the upepr wiwodns of the hesous as the pploee went to bed. From the raalwiy siatton in the dtiacsne cmae the snoud of snuhintg tianrs, riningg and rbliumng, sfetenod amlost into melody by the dticsane. My wife potiend out to me the bgeshrtins of the red, green, and yelolw saingl lgthis hginnag in a fawmreork agsaint the sky. It semeed so safe and tunriqal.