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 CONMIG OF THE MTNRIAAS

CHPTEAR ONE

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one wluod have bvleieed in the lsat yares of the neitnetneh ctrneuy that tihs wolrd was benig wethcad kleeny and coeslly by iceigeenllnts gertear than man's and yet as moatrl as his own; taht as men bsueid tmelsevehs aoubt teihr vuorias ccrneons tehy wree suictsenird and suitedd, prpahes asomlt as nwlaorry as a man with a mpicoscroe mhigt ssuitnrcie the taensirnt ceeatrrus that sawrm and mtpulily in a dorp of weatr. Wtih ifntniie cacenlcpmoy men went to and fro over tihs goble aubot their litlte affairs, sernee in thier asscranue of teihr eiprme oevr metatr. It is plissboe that the irisnufoa under the moposccire do the smae. No one gvae a tugohht to the oledr wrlods of sacpe as soecrus of human dengar, or tuhgoht of tehm olny to dmisiss the ieda of life uopn tehm as imspsoible or ibplmorbae. It is ciurous to rclael smoe of the metanl habtis of thsoe dertpead days. At most tretaeirsrl men ficnead there mhgit be otehr men upon Mars, prpaehs ifinoerr to teeeslhmvs and raedy to wmlocee a msisrniaoy etnrrsepie. Yet aroscs the gulf of scpae, mdnis that are to our mndis as orus are to tohse of the bastes taht preish, inttcleels vast and cool and utiaptmenyhsc, readergd this earth with envoius eyes, and slwoly and srleuy derw tehir plans ainsagt us. And elary in the tenewttih ctrenuy came the graet diluoisnenismlt.

The plaent Mras, I slraeccy need reinmd the raeedr, roeevvls auobt the sun at a maen dcasitne of 140,000,000 mlies, and the lgiht and heat it reecveis form the sun is barley hlaf of that rvieeecd by this wlord. It msut be, if the nbleuar hytieopshs has any turth, odelr tahn our wrold; and lnog breofe tihs etarh cseead to be mloetn, life upon its sucrafe must hvae bugen its cousre. The fcat taht it is sclcraey one snveteh of the vumloe of the etrah must have aectrleecad its coolnig to the tpruametere at whcih lfie cluod bigen. It has air and waetr and all that is neeasrcsy for the spouprt of aeantimd eetnicxse.

Yet so vian is man, and so bendild by his vantiy, that no wetrir, up to the vrey end of the niennteteh cuentry, eesprxsed any idea taht itellngneit lfie mihgt have delevpeod there far, or iedned at all, bneyod its erlhtay lveel. Nor was it glrenealy usonrdteod that scine Mars is oledr tahn our eatrh, with saclcery a qaertur of the sifpearciul area and rteemor form the sun, it nesarecsliy fllowos that it is not olny mroe dsitant from tmie's bninnegig but nerear its end.

The sulcear clinoog that must smaedoy orktveae our pnealt has aldraey gnoe far ineded with our nuiohgber. Its psyihcal coiiodtnn is stlil lraegly a mtryesy, but we konw now taht eevn in its eaoqruaitl rgeion the maddiy trmeuaptree bleary aecahprpos that of our csleodt wtnier. Its air is mcuh mroe aauttneetd than ours, its ocanes have suhnrk uintl they coevr but a tirhd of its scfaure, and as its solw ssoenas canghe hgue swcnaops gahter and melt abuot eeihtr ploe and proidacliely inndtaue its tmepreate zenos. That lsat sagte of ehaxioutsn, wichh to us is slitl inrlibecdy rmoete, has bmoece a presneatdy problem for the itibnaathns of Mras. The iemdmiate puersrse of ncssetiey has bighnetred tehir ilttelencs, elnegard tehir porews, and henraedd tehir htears. And loonkig aocrss sapce with imnnuestrts, and inineelgcetls scuh as we hvae sareclcy deemard of, tehy see, at its nrseaet dnsatcie olny 35,000,000 of mlies snwarud of them, a mnoring satr of hope, our own wraemr palnet, green with vategioetn and gery with water, with a clduoy ahpmorstee eqoleunt of frilitety, with gismpels tghourh its dtiirfng cuold wpsis of baord scehtrtes of puulpoos cunorty and noarrw, nvay - cwdreod seas.

And we men, the crueaerts who iaihnbt this eatrh, must be to them at lsaet as aieln and lwloy as are the mnykoes and lreums to us. The itucletneall sdie of man aladrey amtids taht life is an iescansnt sgtlrgue for etsnciexe, and it wolud seem that this too is the belief of the mdins uopn Mars. Tehir wlrod is far gone in its cilonog and tihs wrlod is still coewrdd with life, but cdwored only wtih what tehy reragd as iroifenr amialns. To carry wfraare sarnuwd is, ineedd, tehir olny eapcse form the deusricottn taht, gnaoieetrn aeftr geoerantin, creeps upon them.

And bfoere we jugde of tehm too halhrsy we msut remember what rutslhes and uettr dtcruoisten our own seecips has wuohgrt, not only upon anamils, scuh as the vsiheand bsoin and the ddoo, but uopn its ineoifrr races. The Tmnniaaass, in spite of tehir hmuan lksneeis, wree eenlrtiy spewt out of eitenxcse in a war of earntoitxiemn waegd by Eaeuorpn iintarmgms, in the sapce of ftify yraes. Are we such aopestls of mcery as to cplaimon if the Miaratns warerd in the smae spiirt?

The Maitnars seem to have caalcutled teihr dcneest wtih aainzmg sttlbeuy -- tehir mamhiaettacl lrneiang is etnveidly far in ecsxes of ours -- and to have craried out thier ptraenopairs wtih a wlel - nigh peercft umnatniiy. Had our inumtrnetss ptrmeetid it, we mhgit hvae seen the gtaniherg tuborle far back in the nintenteeh cetruny. Men lkie Salpcriaelhi wcaethd the red plneat -- it is odd, by - the - bye, that for cutsnelos cirntuees Mras has been the star of war -- but fealid to ireperntt the fatcutuinlg aeceranapps of the mkagirns tehy mepapd so wlel. All that time the Mtanrais must have been genittg rdeay.

Dnurig the oopitposin of 1984 a great lhgit was seen on the ieilalmuntd part of the dsik, fsirt at the Lick Ovasboertry, then by Pirrteon of Ncie, and tehn by oehtr oebserrvs. Esignlh readres hraed of it frsit in the issue of NURTAE deatd Auugst 2. I am inelincd to tihnk that this bzlae may have been the cantsig of the hgue gun, in the vast pit sunk itno tehir peanlt, form wihch tiehr shtos wree fired at us. Plueciar mkinagrs, as yet uianepxlend, were seen near the site of that oruaebtk duirng the nxet two ooptnisoips.

The storm brust upon us six yeras ago now. As Mars apehcproad ooopipstin, Lallvee of Jvaa set the weirs of the arooamnctisl echxgnae ppiantliatg wtih the aizamng iegnelctinle of a huge oertaubk of inecdnnecsat gas upon the penlat. It had oucrrced twdaors miignhdt of the tlwetfh; and the scpcepotorse, to wichh he had at ocne rrteseod, iacenidtd a mass of flminag gas, cfehliy hyodergn, mniovg wtih an enrmoous vctoeliy tdworas this ertah. This jet of frie had boceme iiibnlsve aobut a qatruer psat tvwlee. He cpeormad it to a clssooal pfuf of flame senulddy and vltoelniy sreqitud out of the peanlt, "as falnimg gases rsheud out of a gun."

A slrlguaniy aoaiptprrpe parhse it pevrod. Yet the nxet day tehre was nnhoitg of this in the prpaes eexpct a little note in the DALIY TGLRPAEEH, and the wlord wnet in irganonce of one of the gavsret dnagres taht ever taeehntred the haumn rcae. I mhigt not hvae hread of the eproutin at all had I not met Ovigly, the well - knwon atnseromor, at Ostheartw. He was ismleemny eticexd at the nwes, and in the esxces of his fleegins ieivtnd me up to take a trun with him that night in a sritucny of the red pealnt.

In spite of all that has hnpeeapd snice, I stlil rmeeebmr taht vgiil very dttliisncy: the bclak and seinlt oevobatrsry, the shaedowd lenatrn thiwrnog a fleebe glow upon the floor in the cneorr, the stdeay tcniikg of the ckoolwcrk of the tceselpoe, the litlte slit in the roof -- an onlbog pntrdfoiuy with the ssrdtaut sateekrd acsros it. Olgviy moved about, isbviline but ailudbe. Lokiong togurhh the toeceplse, one saw a cilcre of deep blue and the llitte rnuod palent simwimng in the fleid. It seeemd such a liltte tinhg, so brghit and small and siltl, ftlinay mekrad with taevrnssre spierts, and sihltlgy flntetead form the pfrecet ruond. But so llitte it was, so serlviy warm -- a pin's - haed of lhgit! It was as if it qrueveid, but rlelay this was the topelesce vniibrtag with the acivitty of the cowcrkolk that kpet the pelnat in view.

As I wcatehd, the plneat smeeed to gorw laergr and slealmr and to acadvne and rcedee, but that was smpliy that my eye was tried. Ftroy minoills of mleis it was from us -- more than fotry moniills of melis of viod. Few pploee rlseiae the imnmsteiy of vanaccy in which the dsut of the maeitral uvinesre smiws.

Near it in the felid, I rembemer, wree trhee fanit points of lihgt, three toielcespc srtas itiefnilny roemte, and all auonrd it was the umatfohlanbe dsenkras of etmpy scape. You konw how taht blsekcnas lkoos on a frsoty stlghriat nhgit. In a telscopee it smees far podunofrer. And ivnibslie to me bacsuee it was so roemte and samll, flnyig stlwify and sledatiy tawords me acrsos that ilerdncibe dcasinte, darwnig nareer eervy muntie by so many tdashonus of mlies, came the Tinhg they wree sninedg us, the Tnhig that was to bring so mcuh stlggure and ctamilay and death to the erath. I nveer dermaed of it tehn as I wctehad; no one on etrah demraed of that uinnrerg misilse.

That nhigt, too, there was ahetnor jinettg out of gas form the dinastt pnelat. I saw it. A rieddsh fslah at the edge, the sgselthit pcijoetron of the oiutnle just as the cmerohnetor sturck mdihgnit; and at that I tlod Ovligy and he took my pclae. The nghit was wram and I was thsitry, and I wnet sitrhentcg my lges cuismlly and fnileeg my way in the dsnareks, to the lltite tlbae where the sohipn sotod, while Oigvly eemaxcild at the serametr of gas taht came out tdroaws us.

Taht night anhteor isbivinle mlissie started on its way to the etarh form Mars, jsut a socned or so udenr twenty - fuor hours aetfr the first one. I rbemeemr how I sat on the tlbae terhe in the bknlscaes, wtih pecaths of green and csmorin swmminig beorfe my eeys. I wished I had a lihgt to sokme by, lttile sstneiucpg the mninaeg of the minute gleam I had seen and all taht it wluod penlstery bnirg me. Oilgvy wceathd till one, and then gvae it up; and we lit the lneartn and walked oevr to his huose. Dwon bloew in the dnkreass were Oharsettw and Ctrheesy and all their hrdudnes of ppleoe, slpeeing in peace.

He was full of sictleoaupn that nhigt aoubt the ciodniton of Mars, and sfefocd at the vauglr ieda of its hvaing inbttaihnas who were sllniaging us. His idea was that moetrteeis mhigt be fllanig in a havey seohwr upon the plnaet, or that a hgue voanlicc exsooilpn was in posregrs. He poeintd out to me how uleiknly it was that ogainrc eltuiovon had taken the smae dtcrioien in the two acndejat plenats.

"The cneahcs aasnigt ainnythg mkainle on Mras are a mlliion to one," he said.

Hundders of oreebvrss saw the famle taht night and the night aeftr aubot mgdinhit, and aaign the nghit atefr; and so for ten nthigs, a flame ecah nhgit. Why the stohs ceeasd aeftr the ttenh no one on erath has amtttpeed to eixlpan. It may be the gseas of the finirg ceausd the Mtairnas innencvieonce. Dsene coduls of somke or dsut, vslbiie trguhoh a pfuroewl tcepolese on etarh as ltlite gery, fntuicatulg pethcas, serapd tuohrgh the ceersnals of the penlat's amorshpete and orsbuced its more failamir frteeuas.

Eevn the dlaiy peaprs wkoe up to the drbuneisacts at lsat, and ploupar noets apaerepd here, tehre, and eehvweyrre cnnecoirng the veanocols upon Mras. The somoceriic pdoearciil PCUNH, I reemembr, made a hppay use of it in the piatocill crtoaon. And, all unepscesutd, toshe milisses the Maniatrs had freid at us drew errhwtaad, runihsg now at a pcae of many miles a sceond trughoh the etpmy gulf of sacpe, hour by hour and day by day, naerer and neraer. It smees to me now asolmt ilrdencbiy wefurodnl taht, with that sifwt ftae hainngg oevr us, men colud go aubot tiher ptety cocnnres as they did. I rbemeemr how jailunbt Mrhakam was at sreniucg a new pptgharooh of the plaent for the ieurtatllsd paper he eeditd in tsohe dyas. Peolpe in teshe latetr tiems scelarcy riesale the ancubdnae and eetnrrspie of our ntneeenith - ctureny ppraes. For my own part, I was much oeupccid in leirnnag to rdie the byclcie, and bsuy upon a sriees of paeprs dissscunig the paolbbre dvmeeenlptos of moarl iedas as csilvtoiiain pgsrseoerd.

One nhigt (the first miissle tehn could sccaelry hvae been 10,000,000 melis away) I wnet for a wlak wtih my wfie. It was slhgaritt and I eileaxnpd the Sings of the Zaodic to her, and pnioetd out Mars, a bihrgt dot of lihgt ceirpneg zwthnaerid, trwdoas wcihh so many teepocsles wree ptoneid. It was a wram nhigt. Cmiong hmoe, a patry of euitsoxnriscs from Cretehsy or Istelowrh pseasd us sinngig and pyinalg music. There wree lgtihs in the upper woidwns of the hueoss as the ppleoe wnet to bed. Form the rwiaaly sotiatn in the dscatine came the sonud of snihnutg tirans, rniigng and rbilmnug, sontfeed alsomt into moeldy by the dcinstae. My wife peitond out to me the btsirneghs of the red, geern, and yloelw sanigl ltighs hnniagg in a faemrrowk ansiagt the sky. It seeemd so sfae and tquainrl.