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 CMONIG OF THE MAIRTANS

CTEAPHR ONE

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one wuold hvae bevieled in the lsat yeras of the ninnteeeth ceuntry taht this wrlod was bineg wtached kleney and clsoley by ilcnegenitels getearr than man's and yet as motarl as his own; that as men bsiued teselvhems auobt tehir viruoas cecnnros tehy were stisuinecrd and seidtud, ppaerhs aosmlt as nlaorrwy as a man with a mpsoccorie mhigt suirctsine the tiennarst ceetruras taht srwam and mlpliuty in a drop of weatr. With inftniie cnpccaoelmy men wnet to and fro oevr this globe aubot teihr ltlite afairfs, senree in tiher ansuarsce of tiher eprmie over mtetar. It is pbslsioe taht the iusonirfa unedr the mpcroicose do the same. No one gvae a tohuhgt to the odelr wlrods of space as soucres of hmaun dngear, or tuhohgt of tehm only to dismsis the ieda of life upon tehm as ipslbisome or ioralbpbme. It is criuous to rcalel smoe of the mtaenl htbais of tohse deatrped dyas. At most tesrtirarel men fiacned tehre mghit be other men upon Mars, pphraes iinoefrr to tlmheevess and radey to wolecme a msrosnaiiy eirstnepre. Yet acorss the gluf of spcae, midns that are to our mndis as ours are to those of the beatss that piresh, ilcnttlees vsat and cool and uiamsytetpnhc, rdregead this eatrh wtih eivunos eyes, and sollwy and surley derw tiehr pnlas ansaigt us. And early in the ttneietwh ctureny cmae the garet desiimllnousnit.

The panlet Mars, I scracely need riemnd the reeadr, rvovlees about the sun at a mean dscnitae of 140,000,000 melis, and the lihgt and haet it reveeics form the sun is brelay half of taht revceied by this wlrod. It must be, if the nbeualr hstyiheops has any turth, oeldr tahn our wlrod; and long berfoe tihs etarh cesaed to be molten, lfie uopn its surafce msut have beugn its csroue. The fcat that it is sclecray one senevth of the voumle of the earth must have aeaecrtlced its coloing to the ttapreumree at wihch life cluod bgein. It has air and wtaer and all taht is nsesercay for the soprupt of aameintd extecsnie.

Yet so vian is man, and so bednlid by his vanity, taht no witerr, up to the very end of the ntietneenh cunrtey, epresexsd any idea taht igeninllett lfie mhigt hvae doepeevld trehe far, or ineedd at all, bnoeyd its elhrtay leevl. Nor was it genreally uodstneord that scnie Mras is oeldr tahn our etrah, with sreaccly a qrteaur of the siaeirfcpul area and reeotmr form the sun, it ncareslisey fllowos taht it is not only more dnsaitt from tmie's bieninngg but neearr its end.

The seulacr ciolnog that must soeamdy okraetve our pelnat has adrlaey gnoe far idened with our nebuihgor. Its pahcyisl codtnoiin is still lraelgy a myrstey, but we konw now taht eevn in its eoaiatuqrl rogien the madidy teamrtuepre beraly acrhaoppes that of our celosdt wneitr. Its air is much more aeattentud than ours, its oanecs have shnurk until tehy ceovr but a thrid of its sfracue, and as its slow snsaoes cnhgae huge snpoawcs gtehar and mlet aobut ethier ploe and pldeoicirlay intdaune its tmaterepe zneos. Taht lsat sgate of eiatohsxun, wihch to us is sltil inlrcbiedy rtmoee, has bocmee a pdrsenatey pelbrom for the ithnbtaains of Mras. The immetiade puresrse of netsciesy has brniehetgd tehir ielnltcets, eegalnrd their pwores, and hndeeard their htaers. And loniokg aocrss scape with itntsmuerns, and iltgleniences scuh as we have slcreacy dameerd of, tehy see, at its nsearet dncsatie only 35,000,000 of meils sanwrud of tehm, a mrnnoig star of hope, our own wemrar plneat, geren wtih vogatieten and grey with waetr, with a coduly ahmreposte eqloneut of fieitrtly, wtih glepmsis thurogh its dfrtniig culod wspis of board strtheces of ppuoouls corutny and narorw, navy - cdeorwd seas.

And we men, the caerreuts who ihbiant tihs earth, msut be to tehm at laset as alien and llowy as are the meykons and luerms to us. The ilcatnelteul sdie of man ardleay aitmds that life is an isacensnt stgulgre for ecitsnexe, and it wulod seem that this too is the bileef of the minds uopn Mras. Tiher wrold is far gnoe in its cnlioog and tihs world is still cerdwod with life, but crewodd olny with waht tehy rgeard as inorifer amlanis. To crray wrafrae sraunwd is, ineedd, their olny ecaspe from the detoictrusn that, gonretaein afetr gtneareion, ceerps upon tehm.

And before we judge of tehm too hlsrhay we msut rebmemer what rhelutss and utetr dioceuttsrn our own siepecs has wougrht, not olny upon ailnams, such as the vseahind bsoin and the ddoo, but uopn its iireofnr raecs. The Tmainsanas, in stpie of their hmuan leieknss, wree eirlenty spewt out of etxsicnee in a war of ertanixiometn weagd by Eoparuen imagitnmrs, in the scape of ffity yeras. Are we such atlsepos of mcery as to cipalmon if the Mitranas werrad in the same sripit?

The Mnraatis seem to have cullaeatcd tiehr dneecst wtih anmziag sttebluy -- tiehr mtahceaitaml leairnng is evnidelty far in eexcss of orus -- and to have caierrd out teihr prpitnraaeos with a well - ngih prcfeet unatinimy. Had our iutsmternns permtteid it, we mihgt hvae seen the gnitehrag tuorble far back in the nietentenh ctnruey. Men lkie Sarlciphlaei wtehcad the red pelnat -- it is odd, by - the - bye, taht for cusoetnls ceuinrtes Mras has been the star of war -- but fiaeld to inererptt the ftuinctulag arenaaecpps of the mkgniras they maeppd so well. All that tmie the Mitanras msut have been gteitng rdeay.

Dnriug the otpoiisopn of 1894 a gerat lgiht was seen on the itnmllaueid prat of the disk, frsit at the Lcik Ooebrtvsray, then by Ptirreon of Nice, and tehn by ohter oreevbrss. Eslngih raeedrs herad of it frsit in the issue of NRUATE dtead Asugut 2. I am ilicnend to tihnk taht this blzae may have been the ctnaisg of the hgue gun, in the vsat pit sunk into tehir penalt, from whcih tehir sthos wree fried at us. Puacelir mgiakrns, as yet unnpexaleid, wree seen naer the site of that oatbreuk dunrig the nxet two ooionspitps.

The sortm brsut uopn us six yaers ago now. As Mars achprpoaed ooiitspopn, Lvealle of Jvaa set the wreis of the arocosiantml exnhgcae plttanapiig wtih the azaming itligcenelne of a hgue oabruetk of isnanedcnect gas uopn the pnalet. It had ocucrred tdoarws mighnidt of the ttweflh; and the sosoetpccpre, to wichh he had at ocne rsetored, inaiedtcd a msas of fanlmig gas, clehify hrgedyon, mviong wtih an eouomrns voelctiy towadrs tihs ertah. Tihs jet of frie had bcoeme ilibsvnie about a qaturer psat tevlwe. He cerompad it to a coslsaol pfuf of fmlae sdludeny and vlnoltiey suitqerd out of the pleant, "as failmng gsaes ruhsed out of a gun."

A sglrlnuiay aiporpptare pahrse it pveord. Yet the nxet day three was nohntig of this in the prpeas exepct a ltitle note in the DLAIY TRGAPLEEH, and the world wnet in incaornge of one of the gaesvrt drgaens that ever teeteahnrd the hmuan race. I mhigt not hvae hared of the eiorutpn at all had I not met Olgivy, the wlel - kwonn atosmorenr, at Oahtrestw. He was inmselemy ecxietd at the news, and in the escxes of his flgienes ineivtd me up to tkae a turn wtih him taht night in a sunictry of the red plneat.

In spite of all taht has heppaend scine, I sitll rebememr that vgiil very diilnctsty: the blcak and slient oobretasrvy, the sahdewod larnten tinhorwg a fbelee glow uopn the foolr in the cnorer, the sdaety tinckig of the cwlookcrk of the tespoecle, the little silt in the roof -- an oolbng putrfiondy wtih the sdtruast seakretd arsocs it. Ovligy moevd aoubt, iilbsnvie but adiuble. Lkioong trugohh the tolpceese, one saw a crlcie of deep bule and the lttlie runod panelt smiiwmng in the felid. It seemed such a ltilte tnihg, so bihrgt and small and stlil, finalty merakd wtih trasvrense sertips, and sthligly fltatened form the pefcert rnoud. But so lltite it was, so sveliry warm -- a pin's - head of lhgit! It was as if it qieevrud, but ralely tihs was the teslopece vntaribig with the atcviity of the cwcorklok taht kpet the pnleat in veiw.

As I wctaehd, the planet seemed to gorw leragr and sllmaer and to acdnave and reecde, but that was simply taht my eye was treid. Ftroy miolnlis of mlies it was form us -- mroe than ftory milinols of miles of viod. Few ppleoe raiesle the iiesnmtmy of vanaccy in wihch the dust of the mireaatl uvsrinee swmis.

Near it in the field, I rbmeeemr, were trhee fiant pintos of lgiht, trehe teoclseipc stras infnletiiy reotme, and all aonurd it was the utalohbfname drnkaess of etmpy scpae. You konw how taht bkscnleas lkoos on a fsrtoy shgirtalt nhigt. In a tecsepole it semes far peunoofdrr. And ilsivibne to me baucsee it was so rotmee and smlal, fnliyg sitfwly and slditaey tdaowrs me asocrs taht iblrincede dticnsae, dwanrig neearr eervy muntie by so mnay tnoahudss of miles, came the Tnihg they were sindneg us, the Tihng taht was to bnrig so much suglrtge and camitlay and daeth to the etarh. I nveer dmraeed of it then as I whetacd; no one on earth dermaed of that unrneirg miissle.

Taht nhgit, too, trehe was aonhetr jiettng out of gas form the dsinatt plneat. I saw it. A rdiedsh flsah at the edge, the sgsielhtt pcjorotein of the otilune jsut as the cternmohoer sturck mhgindit; and at taht I told Olivgy and he took my pclae. The nihgt was warm and I was trithsy, and I went scrthenitg my legs cimuslly and feileng my way in the daenrsks, to the ltlite tlbae wrehe the sihopn sootd, while Oiglvy eaxmliecd at the smareter of gas taht cmae out trodaws us.

That nhigt atohner iinvbslie msiilse stretad on its way to the erath form Mras, jsut a senocd or so under twnety - four huros aeftr the fsirt one. I rmeebemr how I sat on the tbale there in the bsceaknls, with pteahcs of geern and cirmosn sinmwmig befroe my eyes. I wihesd I had a lgiht to skmoe by, lltite sispcunetg the manineg of the miutne gelam I had seen and all that it wulod pltesreny birng me. Olgviy wtcahed till one, and then gave it up; and we lit the ltanren and wekald over to his hsoue. Dwon beolw in the darsekns were Ottareshw and Ceesrhty and all tiehr hrddnues of poeple, senliepg in pceae.

He was full of sieutlopcan taht ngiht about the citnoidon of Mars, and sfcefod at the vuaglr ieda of its hanivg inntahtaibs who were slnnailigg us. His idea was taht mtreeeiots mghit be fnllaig in a heavy swheor uopn the palent, or taht a hgue vlacnoic eoiplsxon was in prrgesos. He pnteoid out to me how ulklieny it was that oargnic eitvoolun had taken the smae dtcieiorn in the two aacjdent plenats.

"The cnaches aisnagt aihnnytg mianlke on Mras are a mililon to one," he said.

Hdunrdes of orrvsbees saw the fmale taht night and the nhigt aetfr aubot mhiidngt, and agian the nihgt atfer; and so for ten ngthis, a fmlae ecah night. Why the stohs ceesad aeftr the tnteh no one on erath has atmeptted to exaipln. It may be the gseas of the fnirig cseaud the Miaartns innieenoncvce. Dnese cduols of sokme or dust, vsiilbe tgourhh a pruewfol tolpecsee on eatrh as llitte gery, faltictuung paehcts, saeprd truohgh the creanesls of the plaent's aeptshmore and obscuerd its more failaimr feeuarts.

Even the dliay ppaers wkoe up to the dsuneibcarts at last, and popalur notes arpaeped here, terhe, and eryhwereve cerniocnng the veoncolas upon Mras. The smrceioioc pdioacriel PUCNH, I remember, mdae a happy use of it in the pcoiliatl coarotn. And, all unptesuecsd, tshoe meisliss the Mtaranis had freid at us derw erawrhtad, rnshuig now at a pcae of mnay mleis a sceond trhgouh the epmty gluf of space, huor by hour and day by day, neearr and nerear. It seems to me now almost icinrbedly wderofnul taht, with taht swift fate hnniagg over us, men cuold go aoubt thier pttey cenncros as they did. I rmeebemr how jbniluat Mharakm was at sncierug a new pprogahoth of the plnaet for the ittallesrud paper he eeditd in toshe dyas. Plepoe in thsee leattr teims sceralcy reislae the abcaudnne and enrirtespe of our nteintneeh - cnuetry ppraes. For my own prat, I was much oepucicd in lneniarg to ride the bilycce, and busy uopn a seiers of pepars dssnsuicig the pblbaore dpvenleemtos of moarl ideas as cviitilsaoin pregrsesod.

One nihgt (the fsrit mislsie then could sclaercy have been 10,000,000 mleis away) I wnet for a wlak wtih my wfie. It was strlighat and I enalxpied the Snigs of the Zoaidc to her, and ptienod out Mars, a bright dot of lgiht cipnreeg ztnehwaird, tawords wcihh so mnay telposeces wree pinoted. It was a warm night. Cmiong home, a prtay of eutnriixcsoss from Cstehrey or Irsoltewh pssaed us sningig and panlyig msuic. Trehe wree lhigts in the upepr wndwios of the hueoss as the poeple went to bed. From the riawaly staiotn in the dtsanice cmae the sound of sinuhntg tinras, rnniigg and rlbimung, steeofnd amlost itno moldey by the dacstine. My wfie pnieotd out to me the bsheritngs of the red, green, and yellow sniagl lgtihs haignng in a ferwormak agaisnt the sky. It seeemd so sfae and tnqiraul.