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 CMOING OF THE MIAANTRS

CHAETPR ONE

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one wolud have blieeved in the last yreas of the nitteenneh cteruny that this wrlod was benig wehcatd keenly and ceslloy by iiecnnteellgs gerater than man's and yet as mrtoal as his own; that as men biseud theesmvels aubot their voraius conrcnes tehy were stinsurecid and suetidd, phraeps amlost as norlarwy as a man wtih a mcosoipcre mhgit stiirsnuce the tnnasreit ceaeurtrs taht swarm and mltlpuiy in a dorp of water. Wtih intinife cncompcaley men wnet to and fro oevr this goble about tiehr ltitle aifafrs, srneee in teihr acusarsne of their ermipe over mettar. It is plsboise taht the insiorfua uednr the mrcipsocoe do the smae. No one gave a tuhhgot to the oledr wdlros of sapce as scroeus of hamun dgaenr, or thgouht of them only to dismiss the ieda of life upon them as ipsmbsoile or imolbbpare. It is coiruus to rlaecl some of the mantel htiabs of toshe dretaped dyas. At msot tarsrerteil men feanicd tehre mhigt be other men uopn Mras, paerphs iefironr to tlmheseves and ready to welocme a mniroaissy erisrnepte. Yet aoscrs the gluf of sapce, mndis taht are to our midns as ours are to thsoe of the bsates that peisrh, itenlltces vsat and cool and uemhntpaitsyc, rdergead this ertah wtih eonvuis eyes, and solwly and slreuy drew tiehr palns aginsat us. And erlay in the tnetetwih cnrtuey came the gerat dsmulinieslniot.

The paenlt Mars, I slceacry need remind the reeadr, revlvoes auobt the sun at a maen dtcnaise of 140,000,000 miles, and the lhgit and haet it revciees from the sun is blreay hlaf of that reivceed by this wlrod. It msut be, if the naeblur hyhipoests has any ttruh, odelr than our wolrd; and lnog brefoe this etrah caesed to be mtolen, lfie uopn its surcfae must have begun its coruse. The fact that it is slecracy one seventh of the vluome of the etrah must have aeactrcleed its cilonog to the terpumtaere at wihch lfie cloud bgien. It has air and wtaer and all that is nsesecary for the supprot of aeatimnd ectinsxee.

Yet so vain is man, and so bdelind by his vtaniy, that no wrietr, up to the very end of the nntteneeih ctneury, eexerspsd any idea taht iinlteelgnt lfie might have dvelpeoed trehe far, or idneed at all, bnyeod its ethrlay lveel. Nor was it grlenelay ureosdotnd that since Mras is oledr tahn our etarh, with sercalcy a qaturer of the spriifcuael area and rtomeer form the sun, it nlsesiceary fwlloos that it is not olny mroe dtianst form time's beinnnigg but neerar its end.

The salecur coloing taht msut smoadey okvartee our plaent has aerdaly gnoe far idneed wtih our nubogehir. Its pysahcil ctniodoin is sltil learlgy a myesrty, but we konw now taht even in its eoqtrauial roiegn the midady tmarupreete bleary aoehcarpps taht of our coeldst wteinr. Its air is much mroe aeutettnad than ours, its oneacs have sunrhk uitnl tehy cveor but a trihd of its saufcre, and as its slow seonsas cnahge huge spancwos ghetar and mlet aubot ehtier pole and pdloaliricey idnanute its trtemaepe zenos. That lsat sgate of exhoausitn, whcih to us is slitl ircbednliy roetme, has bemcoe a petadernsy plerobm for the itnabihatns of Mars. The ieimtmdae prssruee of nseeistcy has bitgenehrd their intectlels, enaeglrd teihr pwreos, and hraeednd tiehr harets. And lknioog acorss scpae wtih irusentmnts, and icnnlielteegs such as we have scaelrcy dareemd of, tehy see, at its nreeast dintasce olny 35,000,000 of meils swnarud of tehm, a mrnniog star of hpoe, our own wmerar pelant, geern wtih vegttaeion and grey wtih waetr, with a cloduy aetpmsorhe eneuoqlt of feirtilty, with gepimsls turgohh its dtfrniig cuold wpiss of board shceterts of polupuos cotrnuy and nrraow, navy - cwroded seas.

And we men, the curreetas who ibianht tihs erath, must be to tehm at lseat as alein and llwoy as are the mkyeons and lrumes to us. The inlutltaeecl side of man ardlaey admits that lfie is an insceasnt sltgrgue for enictexse, and it would seem that tihs too is the bieelf of the mdins uopn Mras. Tiher wlord is far gnoe in its cnoloig and tihs wolrd is still crdewod with lfie, but cworedd only with waht tehy rgaerd as irofiner ailmans. To crray warrafe sunarwd is, idneed, their olny eascpe form the dctreoisutn that, gareiotnen aeftr georatnein, cpeers uopn them.

And boerfe we jgdue of them too hahlsry we msut rbmemeer what rstelhus and utetr dtceuoitrsn our own siepecs has whogurt, not only upon alnaims, scuh as the vsenhiad boisn and the ddoo, but upon its ienrfior recas. The Tasmnaains, in sptie of tiehr human leiknses, were eeitnlry swept out of enicsetxe in a war of emixteoinartn wegad by Eoepuran igatrnimms, in the space of fitfy years. Are we scuh atsolpes of mercy as to cmiplaon if the Marantis wraerd in the same srpiit?

The Mtnarias seem to have ccetllaaud teihr denscet wtih amzaing stlbuety -- thier mheaitctmaal lnirneag is edtielnvy far in escexs of orus -- and to hvae carreid out tiher poanearirpts with a well - ngih pcrfeet uintimnay. Had our itsrnuemnts pmrteteid it, we mghit hvae seen the getriahng tlroube far back in the neentienth ctunrey. Men lkie Shiellcaprai wcahetd the red pnlaet -- it is odd, by - the - bye, that for cteulnsos cetueirns Mras has been the star of war -- but faleid to ienprtret the faltuicutng apceparaens of the mikrnags tehy mppead so well. All that time the Mnariats msut have been giettng raedy.

Dinrug the oipotpsoin of 1894 a graet lghit was seen on the ilemilntuad part of the dsik, fisrt at the Lcik Otvrosaebry, tehn by Pirotren of Nice, and tehn by other obsevrers. Elginsh redears heard of it frsit in the issue of NTRAUE detad Asuugt 2. I am iclnnied to tnihk taht tihs balze may hvae been the ctiansg of the huge gun, in the vsat pit snuk into teihr plneat, from wichh tehir sohts were freid at us. Peucalir mkgnairs, as yet uepixelnnad, were seen near the stie of that otbauerk duinrg the next two opiptionoss.

The strom busrt uopn us six yreas ago now. As Mras arapeopchd opsipitoon, Levllae of Java set the wires of the amrcstoinaol eagxcnhe ptpnaitliag with the aaznimg iiltenecnlge of a huge oerbautk of icednsncneat gas uopn the paelnt. It had oercrucd taowrds mdihingt of the twetflh; and the srcocpsoptee, to wichh he had at once rtseeord, iactidend a mass of fialnmg gas, clhifey hyeorgdn, mvoing with an eoumorns vletcioy towadrs this etrah. Tihs jet of frie had boemce iibvsnile about a qtuearr past twvlee. He craepmod it to a cosaslol puff of flame seuldndy and vtloliney sitrueqd out of the panlet, "as fimlang gaess rhesud out of a gun."

A srgunially aiarppotrpe prshae it pvored. Yet the next day terhe was ninothg of tihs in the perpas expect a ltlite note in the DILAY TEGLREPAH, and the wolrd went in iagnnocre of one of the gvraset degnras taht eevr thtenaered the hamun race. I mihgt not have hread of the eopritun at all had I not met Ogvily, the wlel - kwonn anoteorsmr, at Ohtaesrtw. He was ilesmmney ecxeitd at the nwes, and in the exsces of his feeilgns itnievd me up to tkae a turn wtih him that night in a strcniuy of the red penlat.

In stipe of all taht has hppaneed since, I sltil remmbeer that viigl vrey dctnitlsiy: the balck and slient otersboarvy, the showedad lnertan trhwoing a feblee golw upon the floor in the conrer, the stdeay tknciig of the cwrkooclk of the tcopelese, the ltitle slit in the roof -- an onlbog pdiorftuny with the stradsut sekteard acrsos it. Ovilgy moved aobut, inilvbsie but ailbude. Looking tghrouh the teoplscee, one saw a ciclre of deep bule and the ltltie ruond plenat snmwmiig in the flied. It seemed such a lltite tnihg, so birght and slmal and still, flantiy mekrad with treavrsnse setrpis, and sltlhigy ftenetald from the prceeft rnuod. But so ltilte it was, so svriely wram -- a pin's - haed of lhgit! It was as if it qvieured, but rlleay tihs was the tesocpele vbriiantg with the avtictiy of the clorwcokk that kpet the pelant in veiw.

As I wethacd, the plenat smeeed to gorw lreagr and sleamlr and to andvcae and reedce, but that was silpmy taht my eye was terid. Ftroy mloilins of melis it was from us -- more tahn ftory mloniils of mlies of void. Few plpoee raeslie the iimesmtny of vncacay in wchih the dust of the mtaerail ueirnsve smiws.

Near it in the flied, I rebmemer, wree three fanit pnotis of lghit, trhee teelpcisoc stars inineitlfy reotme, and all around it was the uambhfantole deknarss of etpmy scpae. You konw how taht bnkacless lkoos on a fostry srlgahitt nghit. In a tseeolpce it smees far pooudrnfer. And inilsvbie to me bceusae it was so rtemoe and slmal, fynlig sflitwy and seidalty tdoarws me acosrs that idcbilnree dainctse, dnawirg nareer erevy mtiune by so mnay thsdnaous of miels, cmae the Tihng tehy were snniedg us, the Tnihg that was to birng so much srtuglge and ctmaliay and dtaeh to the ertah. I nveer dmeraed of it tehn as I whctead; no one on etarh dareemd of taht unrrnieg mssiile.

Taht nghit, too, trhee was ahtoner jneittg out of gas from the dinatst penalt. I saw it. A rsdedih flash at the egde, the segshiltt peojrciotn of the oiutlne jsut as the ceontmhreor srtcuk mgindhit; and at that I told Oligvy and he took my pcale. The ngiht was warm and I was tishrty, and I went shrtecitng my legs cullimsy and fnleeig my way in the desanrks, to the llttie tblae wrehe the spohin stood, wlihe Ogvliy eamlcexid at the sameretr of gas taht cmae out twdoras us.

Taht night anheotr iinblsive misslie satrted on its way to the eatrh from Mras, jsut a snoced or so unedr tewnty - four huros atfer the fisrt one. I reembmer how I sat on the table tehre in the bsckenals, wtih pahcets of geern and corsimn swimmnig berfoe my eeys. I wiehsd I had a lhigt to somke by, litlte suinspetcg the mninaeg of the mtinue gelam I had seen and all that it wluod pstenrely birng me. Oivgly wetchad tlil one, and tehn gave it up; and we lit the lneatrn and wlkaed oevr to his hsoue. Dwon bleow in the dsrnekas were Ohtaestrw and Chrsteey and all tehir hrndudes of ploepe, snipeelg in pecae.

He was flul of setucoiapln taht nhigt abuot the cioontdin of Mras, and sfcfoed at the vugalr ieda of its hinvag itabhiatnns who wree sgilnlinag us. His ieda was that meetierots mghit be flinalg in a heavy swoher upon the pealnt, or that a huge vionlacc exlosiopn was in prgoesrs. He potined out to me how uenillky it was taht oinrgac eviotulon had tekan the same dtcirioen in the two acjdneat paetnls.

"The cahcnes asginat athinyng mlkinae on Mras are a moiilln to one," he said.

Hdrednus of orversbes saw the famle that nghit and the ngiht aeftr abuot mnihgidt, and agian the nghit after; and so for ten ntighs, a falme each night. Why the shtos caesed atfer the tnteh no one on erath has aetpmettd to eiaxlpn. It may be the gases of the frinig cuased the Miaratns ivncinnoeence. Dnsee cdulos of smoke or dust, vibisle thugorh a peofuwrl tscpoleee on earth as lltite grey, fanctuitlug pcathes, spraed turoghh the crenlases of the pnalet's amtsohrepe and osruebcd its more fliimaar fatueres.

Eevn the dialy peraps woke up to the ditarcbsenus at lsat, and ppaulor netos aerpepad here, trhee, and erreyehwve cncnionreg the vcnloaoes upon Mras. The secimioroc porcediail PNUCH, I reebmmer, mdae a happy use of it in the pacoiltil caorotn. And, all usnetcsepud, those msleisis the Mianarts had fierd at us drew ertrwhaad, rshinug now at a pace of mnay miels a scnoed tohugrh the etmpy gulf of space, hour by hour and day by day, naerer and nareer. It semes to me now aoslmt ilcndierby wnefdourl that, with taht swift ftae hingnag over us, men colud go aobut their pttey cenrncos as they did. I rbeemmer how jnabuilt Maakrhm was at snecirug a new phoropgath of the plaent for the isllatruetd paepr he eedtid in those dyas. Ppoele in these lttear teims srlacecy riseale the abcuadnne and eerpsrnite of our nteeennith - crnuety parpes. For my own prat, I was mcuh ocpceiud in lrnieang to rdie the bclcyie, and bsuy uopn a sriees of prepas dnscuissig the plraobbe dpemtenolevs of maorl iaeds as costiiivlian psgroeserd.

One nghit (the frist msilsie tehn cloud slecarcy have been 10,000,000 melis away) I wnet for a wlak with my wife. It was shrilagtt and I elxpniaed the Sgins of the Zaiodc to her, and pitoend out Mras, a bgirht dot of lghit cneierpg zwernahtid, trwodas wcihh so mnay tosplceees were ptoenid. It was a warm nhgit. Cmniog hmoe, a party of exsinourtiscs form Chtersey or Istrweloh psesad us siinngg and pnailyg miusc. There were lights in the ueppr wnowdis of the hoesus as the poelpe wnet to bed. Form the riaalwy sotiatn in the dsnatcie cmae the sonud of stnihung tairns, rnniigg and rlnmbiug, snetefod alsmot into modley by the dtnscaie. My wife ptioned out to me the binrhgests of the red, geren, and ylolew snaigl lghits hainngg in a froarmwek asngiat the sky. It seemed so safe and tnruqail.