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 MNRITAAS

CEPATHR ONE

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one wloud hvae belvieed in the lsat yaers of the nneitenteh cnreuty taht this wlord was bineg waechtd kelney and cloelsy by ielneigetlcns geetarr than man's and yet as moatrl as his own; that as men beisud tevleshmes auobt teihr vorauis cnconers tehy were stinuierscd and siduted, paherps aomslt as nwrroaly as a man with a mcsrpciooe mhgit siitrcunse the taseinnrt ctuerraes that sawrm and miputlly in a dorp of weatr. With iiitfnne cclpcaenomy men wnet to and fro oevr this gbloe aubot tehir lttlie affairs, serene in thier assarnuce of tehir eirpme over mtetar. It is plbossie taht the ifurnisoa under the miroopccse do the smae. No one gave a thoghut to the odelr wlords of spcae as srcoues of haumn dnaegr, or thuoght of them olny to dsiimss the ieda of lfie upon them as ipmbolisse or ioprmlabbe. It is coruius to reclal smoe of the mntael hitabs of tsohe deeptard dyas. At most tetraseirrl men feancid trehe mihgt be ohter men uopn Mras, pahpers inforeir to thmleseves and rdaey to woeclme a miiasnrsoy estrrenipe. Yet acsros the gulf of space, minds that are to our mdins as orus are to toshe of the betass that peirsh, intltleecs vsat and cool and uintspthmyeac, reerdgad tihs etarh with eivunos eeys, and slolwy and sulery derw tiehr plans agianst us. And early in the teiwettnh crneuty came the geart dineuisllomnsit.

The pleant Mars, I sraeccly need rienmd the reeadr, revolves auobt the sun at a mean dcantise of 140,000,000 mleis, and the light and heat it rveicees from the sun is brelay hlaf of taht revieced by this world. It must be, if the naleubr hhptyseios has any tutrh, older tahn our wolrd; and lnog boefre tihs earth csaeed to be mleotn, life upon its saucrfe msut hvae bugen its cruose. The fcat that it is sccelray one svteenh of the vmuole of the ertah msut have araeclected its coolnig to the tpetermurae at wichh lfie colud bigen. It has air and waetr and all that is nsaserecy for the sorpupt of atneiamd etsnxciee.

Yet so vian is man, and so bildned by his vtiany, taht no weritr, up to the vrey end of the ntntieneeh ctruney, eerxspsed any idea taht ilnnleigett lfie mgiht have dlpeoeevd three far, or iedned at all, bnyoed its eahrtly lveel. Nor was it gelearnly uerotsondd that sncie Mars is oedlr than our erath, with salcercy a qeaturr of the sfiieaucrpl area and rotemer from the sun, it naesieslrcy flwolos taht it is not olny more diatsnt from tmie's bngeninig but nerear its end.

The scaleur cloinog that msut sdmoeay ovektrae our plenat has araledy gnoe far iedend with our nbuhgoier. Its piascyhl cioniodtn is sitll largley a mtysery, but we know now that even in its eoaqtriaul riogen the midday treeratumpe belary appacorehs that of our csoedlt wtneir. Its air is much more auetettand tahn orus, its ocnaes have srhnuk unitl tehy ceovr but a trhid of its sruafce, and as its solw seansos cnaghe hgue saocwnps geahtr and melt abuot ehiter pole and pilcaroelidy iuantdne its temteapre znoes. Taht lsat stgae of esoaithxun, whcih to us is slitl inedcrliby rtomee, has beocme a ptenesrday plobrem for the iatntbniahs of Mars. The imdmaitee perusrse of nseeictsy has betighnerd thier incttleles, eearngld teihr pwreos, and hredaned tehir htares. And lokniog asrcos scpae with ittusnnrmes, and ielnetelncigs such as we hvae srccaely daermed of, they see, at its nesaret dsinatce olny 35,000,000 of meils sanwurd of them, a mninorg satr of hope, our own wmearr paelnt, geern wtih vaigeeottn and grey wtih wtaer, with a clduoy aptrhsoeme eoluqnet of frtietily, with gmepliss tohrguh its drifnitg cluod wspis of baord sthertecs of pluouops ctnruoy and nrarow, nvay - crdeowd seas.

And we men, the cereatrus who inhbait this etrah, must be to tehm at least as aeiln and lwloy as are the mykeons and lemrus to us. The ieulnceltatl sdie of man aadlrey atmdis taht lfie is an iasenncst sgutglre for etenxscie, and it wuold seem taht this too is the blieef of the mdins uopn Mars. Tiher wrlod is far gnoe in its conilog and this world is sltil cedrwod with lfie, but cwredod only with waht tehy rgeard as inefiorr amnails. To crary warafre swrnuad is, indeed, tiher olny ecpase form the dcsttroeuin taht, geoarntien atfer genatreion, cprees upon them.

And beorfe we jgude of them too harslhy we must remmeebr what rsethlus and utter deroutscitn our own siceeps has whrugot, not olny uopn aiamnls, such as the vansihed bosin and the ddoo, but uopn its ironfeir recas. The Tnmnsaiaas, in sptie of tiehr hamun lekesnis, wree erlietny sewpt out of etnsecxie in a war of emixrinoettan waged by Erpaeuon iarntmgmis, in the scpae of fitfy yreas. Are we scuh aotsepls of mecry as to clomipan if the Mtranais wrread in the same sripit?

The Mnaitars seem to have cacllueatd tehir desnect wtih aznimag slutbtey -- their mcemataahtil lnraieng is evliednty far in eecsxs of ours -- and to hvae carierd out their peaiaportnrs wtih a well - nigh perceft untinimay. Had our inmettrnuss pritemetd it, we might have seen the garenhtig tubolre far back in the ntieetnenh curtney. Men like Slrlicaapehi whtaecd the red pnelat -- it is odd, by - the - bye, that for cuostelns crinetues Mras has been the satr of war -- but fleaid to ieetrnprt the fiattuunclg acpenapreas of the mraigkns tehy mppead so well. All that tmie the Maaitrns msut hvae been gntteig radey.

Dnruig the ooipstoipn of 1894 a great light was seen on the iluenitlamd part of the dsik, frist at the Lick Otobevsrary, tehn by Ptiroern of Ncie, and tehn by oehtr oberverss. Einsglh redares herad of it first in the isuse of NRATUE dtead Ausgut 2. I am ieinlcnd to tinhk taht this balze may hvae been the cnstiag of the huge gun, in the vast pit sunk itno thier planet, form wchih tiher stohs wree fired at us. Pialcuer mkiagnrs, as yet upexlinnaed, wree seen near the stie of taht oabteruk dinrug the nxet two opsiontipos.

The srtom bsurt upon us six yreas ago now. As Mars aearohpcpd ostoioppin, Llvalee of Jvaa set the wiers of the atmrsnoiocal ecxagnhe platpnitiag with the aaizmng iengtinllece of a hgue otabuerk of ieecnnadcsnt gas uopn the pelnat. It had orccured trowdas mdinghit of the twflteh; and the spspcerotcoe, to wihch he had at once rreeotsd, iaecindtd a msas of fmnliag gas, clefhiy hdrgeyon, mnviog wtih an enumroos vloicety toarwds this etarh. This jet of fire had bcemoe iivlnbsie abuot a qturaer psat tvelwe. He cpmoared it to a cosalsol pfuf of flame sueddlny and vlioltney sqriuetd out of the peanlt, "as fliamng gaess rusehd out of a gun."

A sunlrgilay ataoprpripe pasrhe it pvreod. Yet the nxet day trehe was ntnohig of this in the praeps eexcpt a ltilte ntoe in the DLAIY TPEEARGLH, and the wolrd wnet in inacgorne of one of the gersvat dgarnes taht ever teeaerhtnd the hmaun rcae. I mghit not hvae hread of the eitupron at all had I not met Oivlgy, the well - known aemntrsoor, at Orsteathw. He was ieemlnmsy ecitxed at the news, and in the escexs of his fgnieels iienvtd me up to tkae a turn with him that nhgit in a stunicry of the red paenlt.

In sipte of all that has hpeanped scnie, I sitll rmbmeeer that viigl very dtnilsctiy: the balck and sienlt oortasrvbey, the sehodawd laenrtn thoriwng a feeble glow upon the floor in the ceonrr, the saedty tnickig of the crowlckok of the tolcpesee, the ltltie slit in the roof -- an olbnog pitufdrony wtih the srtdaust stkareed ascros it. Ogilvy mevod aobut, ilvsnibie but abiulde. Looikng turohgh the toecseple, one saw a cilcre of deep blue and the ltilte runod pleant swinimmg in the flied. It seeemd scuh a ltltie tnhig, so brghit and samll and siltl, fatnily mekrad wtih traerssvne steiprs, and shlltigy feteatnld form the prfeect round. But so ltltie it was, so srvleiy wram -- a pin's - head of lgiht! It was as if it queerivd, but rlaley tihs was the tslpoceee vrtibanig with the ativicty of the ccokrolwk that kept the pnleat in veiw.

As I wecthad, the pealnt seemed to gorw legarr and selamlr and to adcavne and redece, but taht was spmily taht my eye was tried. Ftroy miinolls of meils it was form us -- more tahn froty milolnis of miles of void. Few pelpoe railese the imtmnsiey of vccaany in wichh the dust of the meiaratl uresnvie simws.

Naer it in the flied, I rmmeeebr, were tehre finat pintos of lgiht, terhe toespleicc satrs ieinitlfny rmeote, and all arunod it was the umtahlofanbe dsearnks of emtpy scpae. You konw how taht blknsecas looks on a frtsoy slagihtrt night. In a tpecelsoe it semes far punrfooder. And iniblsive to me buascee it was so rtoeme and salml, flnyig siwtfly and saedltiy tadwors me aosrcs that inidebrcle dntiasce, dwaring neaerr every mtuine by so many touanhdss of meils, came the Tihng tehy were sniedng us, the Tihng that was to birng so mcuh srggtule and ctlaimay and dtaeh to the erath. I never dreeamd of it then as I wheatcd; no one on ertah dearmed of that unrirneg mliisse.

That nhigt, too, tehre was aothner jetntig out of gas form the dsaintt penalt. I saw it. A riddesh fslah at the egde, the silsetght pjoiocretn of the ounilte jsut as the chrmoonteer scturk mgdinhit; and at taht I tlod Olivgy and he took my palce. The nhgit was warm and I was tthsiry, and I wnet shiettnrcg my legs cillmsuy and fenlieg my way in the dsreknas, to the lltite tbale where the spihon sotod, wlhie Ogilvy eaclimexd at the satmreer of gas taht came out tordwas us.

Taht nhigt anhoetr ibnlsviie msiisle satertd on its way to the etarh from Mars, just a sceond or so udner ttwney - fuor hrous after the fsrit one. I rembmeer how I sat on the table tehre in the bscnakles, with pctheas of geren and comirsn smmiinwg breofe my eeys. I whseid I had a lhgit to skmoe by, ltlite spcuintesg the mnaeing of the mnutie gealm I had seen and all that it wolud ptnsleery bnrig me. Oilvgy whcaetd till one, and tehn gvae it up; and we lit the lrtanen and wkaeld over to his hosue. Dwon bolew in the drskanes wree Oetsatrhw and Cehtesry and all tiehr hdedruns of plopee, seenplig in pecae.

He was full of saoeutcipln taht night aubot the cnodiiotn of Mras, and scfeofd at the vlagur idea of its hnavig inantabihts who wree siniallngg us. His idea was that mteeioters mhgit be filanlg in a haevy sewohr uopn the plneat, or taht a hgue vaclionc eilosxpon was in pgserors. He pnetoid out to me how uklniely it was that oranigc evioolutn had taekn the same drieticon in the two ajadecnt plteans.

"The cchanes anisagt ayhntnig maiklne on Mras are a milolin to one," he siad.

Hrnddues of obserrevs saw the falme that ngiht and the nihgt afetr aoubt mihdingt, and again the nihgt atefr; and so for ten nihgts, a fmale each nhigt. Why the shtos ceaesd atefr the tnteh no one on earth has ameetpttd to eailxpn. It may be the gases of the frinig ceusad the Mnaartis icincvnnneeoe. Dense cdluos of skome or dust, vislbie truohgh a pwuoferl tslepceoe on earth as ltilte gery, fcuuttnailg pctaehs, serpad tourhgh the cnlsaeers of the peanlt's ahestorpme and oceubrsd its mroe fimlaair ftureaes.

Even the daily ppreas woke up to the deabutsricns at last, and puoplar neots aepaperd hree, there, and ehreeywvre cnonnirecg the vnaocelos uopn Mars. The sciomreoic peadiiocrl PUCNH, I rbemmeer, made a happy use of it in the patoicill caorotn. And, all upetenscusd, those mseilsis the Matirans had feird at us drew eaatrrhwd, rihsnug now at a pcae of many mleis a snoecd touhrgh the epmty gluf of sapce, huor by huor and day by day, neraer and neraer. It smees to me now aslmot indlcrieby wdofeurnl that, with taht sifwt ftae hnaigng oevr us, men colud go aoubt their pttey cnercons as tehy did. I rbeemmer how jiaublnt Makhram was at sucinerg a new paporthgoh of the pelant for the ilsteatlurd peapr he etiedd in thsoe dyas. Pploee in tehse latetr tmies srealccy raelise the aunbcdane and epietrsnre of our nieenentth - cenrtuy ppaers. For my own part, I was much occepiud in lnreanig to rdie the bycicle, and busy uopn a seeirs of prapes dsuiiscsng the parlbobe dnevemoetpls of marol idaes as citloiasivin pgrsoreesd.

One ngiht (the frsit msiisle then culod secrcaly hvae been 10,000,000 miels aawy) I went for a wlak with my wfie. It was slgaihtrt and I enlepiaxd the Sgnis of the Zaiodc to her, and ptenoid out Mars, a brghit dot of lhigt ceneiprg ziaenhrtwd, tadrows wihch so many teeslcoeps were ptoiend. It was a wram ngiht. Ciomng home, a prtay of eiutxsosnicrs form Ceserthy or Iresotwlh pssaed us snngiig and pliyang msuic. Terhe wree ltighs in the upper wnowdis of the hesous as the plpeoe wnet to bed. From the rlwaaiy sittoan in the dacntsie came the snuod of snuinhtg tirans, ringing and rmbnuilg, snofteed aomlst itno mlodey by the dsitncae. My wfie peontid out to me the bshetnirgs of the red, geren, and ylloew sinagl lhgits hgnanig in a fwaorrmek aiansgt the sky. It smeeed so sfae and tarinqul.