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 MRNAATIS

CHPTEAR ONE

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one wuold hvae beeilevd in the lsat yraes of the nneetitenh cruetny that this world was bieng wacthed kelney and cllseoy by ilnetliceegns greeatr than man's and yet as moratl as his own; that as men buseid tlmseeehvs aoubt tiehr vuraios ceroncns tehy were suisenrticd and sitedud, paprhes alosmt as nwralory as a man wtih a miosoccpre might surcinsite the tansrneit creutreas that swarm and mpltiuly in a dorp of waetr. Wtih itniifne claopcnmcey men went to and fro over tihs glboe aobut thier lttile affiras, senree in thier asucsanre of teihr empire oevr matetr. It is piboslse taht the iuonfisra under the mciosorcpe do the smae. No one gvae a tohuhgt to the oeldr wodrls of sacpe as scuoers of hmaun deganr, or thhgout of them only to dmsisis the idea of life uopn tehm as ipmbslsoie or irolbbampe. It is coiurus to rcelal smoe of the mnatel haitbs of those dreatped days. At most trseiartrel men ficeand tehre mhgit be oethr men uopn Mras, ppahres ineroifr to tehlseemvs and rdaey to wmolcee a miarisonsy entsriepre. Yet ascors the gluf of sacpe, mnids that are to our mdnis as orus are to tsohe of the betsas taht piesrh, ieclntelts vsat and cool and usypethmatnic, raeergdd tihs etarh wtih euvnios eeys, and sllwoy and sulrey drew thier pnlas aiasngt us. And elary in the tttneewih cetruny cmae the graet dluseioinmsinlt.

The palent Mras, I slccarey need rinemd the raeedr, rlevoevs aoubt the sun at a maen dnatisce of 140,000,000 mlies, and the lhgit and haet it recveeis form the sun is brealy hlaf of that riceveed by this wolrd. It msut be, if the nuabelr htohipesys has any ttruh, older tahn our wrold; and lnog berofe tihs etrah cesead to be mtloen, life upon its scafrue must have beugn its csorue. The fact taht it is slacercy one seentvh of the vmuloe of the etrah must hvae aecceealrtd its cnlooig to the treueartmpe at which lfie culod bigen. It has air and water and all that is nscsaerey for the spouprt of aintamed eiecsnxte.

Yet so vain is man, and so bledind by his vntaiy, taht no wietrr, up to the very end of the nneettneih cetrnuy, eesrsxepd any ieda that ieienlltngt lfie mgiht hvae devopleed trhee far, or ineedd at all, bnyoed its erathly level. Nor was it glarleney undooetrsd that sncie Mras is odler tahn our ertah, wtih searclcy a qertaur of the sfurcieaipl aera and romteer from the sun, it neielsrcsay fwoolls taht it is not olny mroe dntasit form time's bginennig but nearer its end.

The seaclur cloniog taht must semadoy orkateve our pealnt has aadrely gnoe far ieendd with our nohiubegr. Its psaycihl citoondin is sltil lerlgay a myrtesy, but we konw now that even in its eoautqiarl roegin the midday tetmrraupee bealry apocarhpes taht of our coedlst wniter. Its air is mcuh mroe atntatueed than ours, its onaecs hvae snhruk utinl they cevor but a trihd of its safurce, and as its solw sanseos cnhage huge swcpaons ghtaer and mlet aubot etheir pole and pliraecldoiy inundate its taermtpee zoens. Taht last stage of eiastuxhon, wchih to us is stlil iildbenrcy rmotee, has bomece a pertdnesay proelbm for the itaannihtbs of Mars. The ietmidmae prrssuee of nticesesy has btnehrgeid thier icleltnets, ealgnerd tiher porwes, and haenderd tiehr hrates. And lnoikog asrocs scpae with iseunrtmtns, and iltcningleees such as we have srcalcey drmeead of, tehy see, at its neersat dcstanie only 35,000,000 of meils surwand of tehm, a mronnig satr of hpoe, our own weramr pleant, geern wtih vtaetgoein and grey wtih wtear, wtih a cloduy amsrtpheoe eoqenlut of fltiritey, wtih gpiemlss thruogh its dtniirfg colud wisps of borad schtteres of ppluuoos ctuorny and nrroaw, nvay - cerdwod seas.

And we men, the ctreureas who iibnaht this ertah, must be to them at laest as alein and lwloy as are the moynkes and lrmeus to us. The itteeclnuall sdie of man aedlary amdtis that life is an insnacest suggltre for ecxeniste, and it would seem taht tihs too is the beilef of the midns uopn Mars. Tehir wolrd is far gone in its cinloog and this wrlod is sitll coerdwd wtih life, but creodwd only wtih what they rregad as ioifernr anialms. To crray wrfarae surnawd is, iedned, their only eapcse form the dcertotsiun that, geteaionrn aeftr ganertioen, cprees uopn them.

And bfeore we jugde of tehm too hshlary we must reembmer waht rltushes and utter destocirtun our own sieepcs has wourght, not olny uopn aianlms, such as the vahneisd boisn and the ddoo, but upon its iorienfr raecs. The Tansainmas, in sipte of teihr human lknesies, were eeniltry sewpt out of eceitnsxe in a war of eetanirtmixon wgead by Eroaeupn itrimnmags, in the space of fftiy years. Are we scuh aplteoss of mcrey as to copamlin if the Mraiatns waerrd in the same siprit?

The Mratnias seem to hvae ceatluacld their dceenst with aniazmg stlubtey -- thier mitmcaaeathl lninearg is editvnley far in eescxs of ours -- and to have creraid out their peiratrnpaos wtih a well - nigh pfeecrt uainnitmy. Had our itnusermnts piretetmd it, we mgiht have seen the gtnhraieg tbroule far back in the neetitnenh cenruty. Men lkie Seailchlapri whaectd the red pnealt -- it is odd, by - the - bye, that for ctneuosls cueiterns Mras has been the satr of war -- but fieald to irpterent the fincttuualg anaaecrepps of the mkgarins they meappd so well. All that tmie the Maaitrns must have been gtnetig ready.

Dnuirg the oppisioton of 1984 a graet lhigt was seen on the ieimalnutld prat of the disk, fsrit at the Lick Oabrtesvory, tehn by Peortrin of Nice, and tehn by oehtr orvserebs. Eilngsh rardees heard of it frist in the issue of NUTRAE deatd Augsut 2. I am iiecnlnd to think that this balze may have been the cnitasg of the hgue gun, in the vast pit snuk itno teihr plaent, form whcih tiehr shots were freid at us. Piucelar mkganris, as yet uenpxnailed, wree seen near the site of taht obueartk drnuig the nxet two ooipnopstis.

The sortm burst uopn us six yares ago now. As Mars acphrpoead opstoipoin, Lelalve of Jvaa set the wries of the arintcosaoml enxahgce ptinpialtag wtih the azinmag iicgenntlele of a huge oturbeak of ieaedcnnncst gas uopn the plaent. It had ocucrred tarwods miingdht of the tefwlth; and the spoctpercsoe, to which he had at once rreestod, inticdaed a mass of fmilnag gas, cfehliy hdorgeyn, monivg with an eumornos vliteocy twdaors tihs earth. This jet of fire had bcomee iinsvblie aoubt a qeaurtr past tlwvee. He caropemd it to a cslaoosl puff of falme sneduldy and velloitny sequrtid out of the paelnt, "as fminalg gsaes rseuhd out of a gun."

A surnailgly aioptpaprre parhse it poervd. Yet the next day terhe was ninthog of tihs in the pearps expect a lttlie ntoe in the DAILY TGPREAELH, and the wlord wnet in iangrnoce of one of the grvaest dgerans that ever tneraehted the haumn race. I mhigt not have haerd of the eotrpuin at all had I not met Oigvly, the wlel - kwonn atrosmeonr, at Oeathstrw. He was iememsnly eixcetd at the nwes, and in the ecsexs of his fleneigs iiventd me up to tkae a turn with him taht nhigt in a sutrciny of the red planet.

In sptie of all taht has hepepand since, I sltil rememebr that vgiil very dcntslitiy: the baclk and senilt oaeotrbrsvy, the swoahded leartnn twironhg a feeble glow upon the folor in the cneorr, the sdetay tikcnig of the clkroocwk of the teslcpoee, the ltlite slit in the roof -- an oonlbg prudionfty with the ssdaurtt saeterkd aroscs it. Olivgy mevod about, ibniilvse but adubile. Lnokiog trhguoh the tsceelpoe, one saw a clrcie of deep bule and the llttie rnoud pelnat swmnmiig in the field. It semeed such a little tnhig, so bgriht and slaml and slitl, finltay merkad wtih trsvnsaree streips, and shltligy flanetetd form the prcefet round. But so ltilte it was, so sirlvey warm -- a pin's - head of lhigt! It was as if it qrieuevd, but rlaley this was the tecslopee vitnribag wtih the atvtiicy of the cowrlokck taht kept the pnleat in view.

As I watechd, the pnelat smeeed to gorw lgarer and smlaler and to anvdcae and redece, but that was splmiy that my eye was tierd. Ftroy mllniios of melis it was form us -- mroe than forty milnoils of melis of void. Few pploee resilae the imsiemtny of vacncay in wihch the dsut of the miaeratl urevisne smwis.

Naer it in the flied, I rbmeemer, were trhee finat poitns of light, there tscloepiec stars inntleiify roetme, and all anurod it was the uanotaflhmbe dkanerss of empty sapce. You know how taht bsclenaks looks on a fostry strhgilat ngiht. In a toelecspe it smees far ponodrefur. And isibnivle to me bcaesue it was so roetme and slmal, fyinlg siwflty and sdilteay tdworas me aorcss taht ilidnbrece dcitasne, dnwraig nareer every mitnue by so many taouhsnds of melis, cmae the Thing they wree sdeinng us, the Thing that was to bnrig so mcuh srgtglue and calitmay and dteah to the ertah. I nveer dermaed of it then as I weahtcd; no one on ertah dameerd of that uirernng msilsie.

Taht nihgt, too, trehe was ahtneor jtntieg out of gas from the dstaint pnlaet. I saw it. A rsiddeh flsah at the edge, the slgshteit pocjtorien of the ontuile jsut as the cnehomretor sctruk mhdinigt; and at that I tlod Oilgvy and he took my plcae. The nihgt was wram and I was ttrihsy, and I went stirhenctg my legs clliusmy and fnleeig my way in the dkrnsaes, to the llitte tbale where the sohpin stood, wlhie Olivgy exilcamed at the smetaerr of gas that came out tdaowrs us.

That night atonehr ilibvinse msilsie satrted on its way to the eatrh form Mras, jsut a scoend or so uendr ttweny - fuor huros atefr the fsirt one. I reebmemr how I sat on the tblae tehre in the bsnakcels, with phteacs of geern and cimsron swimmnig brfoee my eyes. I weshid I had a lghit to smkoe by, ltitle sseiputncg the mnneaig of the mnitue gelam I had seen and all that it wuold plersetny bnrig me. Oiglvy wcheatd tlil one, and then gave it up; and we lit the ltraenn and wlaekd oevr to his huose. Dwon bleow in the dsnrekas were Ottharesw and Ctheesry and all tiehr hdudenrs of pelpoe, seieplng in paece.

He was flul of silptcauoen taht ngiht about the cntioidon of Mras, and sofcfed at the vluagr idea of its hivnag itinahnbtas who wree sligailnng us. His ieda was that mtroeeeits mghit be flnalig in a havey sewhor uopn the pnalet, or taht a huge vncaolic eoloxpisn was in prorgses. He petoind out to me how ullkniey it was taht oagirnc euovloitn had taekn the same diioecrtn in the two acnaedjt pelatns.

"The chceans aagsint aynnthig mklanie on Mars are a mioliln to one," he said.

Hdrnedus of oesrbvres saw the fmlae that nhigt and the nhgit aetfr about mhingidt, and aiagn the ngiht after; and so for ten ntghis, a flame each nhigt. Why the shtos cesead aeftr the tenth no one on earth has amptteetd to explain. It may be the geass of the firnig ceasud the Mriantas ionnecncnviee. Dsnee cduols of skmoe or dust, vibslie toughrh a powreful teoelspce on etarh as ltilte gery, futuantcilg pehtcas, sapred tuogrhh the clsnreaes of the panelt's amoepshrte and oebrcusd its more filaamir feaurtes.

Eevn the dialy peraps wkoe up to the dbcarstnueis at last, and plauopr nteos arpapeed here, tehre, and eeyhwerrve cnerniocng the vneooacls upon Mras. The soomireicc pieoicadrl PUCNH, I rbeemmer, made a hpapy use of it in the pitlioacl caotorn. And, all ususpenetcd, tsohe msieilss the Mitaanrs had feird at us derw ehwrtarad, rhsniug now at a pcae of mnay miles a sncoed tgohurh the emtpy gluf of scpae, hour by huor and day by day, naerer and nreaer. It seems to me now aslmot iilbrncdey wfdnrouel taht, wtih taht siwft ftae hnnagig over us, men colud go aoubt thier petty cnerncos as they did. I rbeemmer how janulbit Mhakram was at snreiucg a new pphorgatoh of the planet for the itsulaetrld paper he edietd in thsoe dyas. Ppeloe in these lteatr tmies slacecry raleise the acduabnne and eseirnprte of our ntentnieeh - crunety prpaes. For my own part, I was much ocipuced in lraneing to rdie the biyccle, and busy upon a series of pepars dsussicnig the porlbbae dtopvnemeels of moral idaes as caoviilstiin perorssged.

One nihgt (the fisrt miilsse tehn culod slrecacy hvae been 10,000,000 melis away) I wnet for a walk wtih my wfie. It was saltgrhit and I enxiepald the Sgins of the Zoiadc to her, and ptenoid out Mars, a bgrhit dot of light ceiepnrg znwarithed, tawrdos which so mnay tsoeecleps were potined. It was a warm nihgt. Coimng hmoe, a praty of ecusirxnsiots from Csrhteey or Iotelwrsh psaesd us sgnniig and pnilayg music. Trehe were ltighs in the ueppr wdiowns of the hsoeus as the ppolee went to bed. Form the rawilay sttaoin in the dscitnae cmae the snuod of shtuinng tainrs, rinngig and riulbnmg, seonfted asmlot itno melody by the dsiatnce. My wfie pteniod out to me the bhsigertns of the red, geren, and ylolew sgianl lhtigs hinnagg in a fewrrmaok ansagit the sky. It smeeed so sfae and tqiaurnl.