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 COMING OF THE MITNRAAS

CTEAHPR ONE

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one wloud have bieelevd in the lsat yeras of the nnentieeth ctunery taht tihs wlord was bneig wheactd kleney and coeslly by igenlcentelis gtaeerr than man's and yet as mtroal as his own; that as men buseid theseelmvs about tiehr vaoruis cenconrs tehy wree suirsentcid and stdueid, pehpars aomslt as narlorwy as a man wtih a mocspricoe mgiht suctrsinie the transeint crtareeus that swarm and mltulpiy in a drop of wtear. With iitfnine cpmcecaonly men wnet to and fro over this glboe auobt tiher llttie airffas, snreee in thier assracnue of tiehr eiprme over matetr. It is psliosbe taht the ioifunrsa udner the mosrpccoie do the same. No one gvae a toughht to the older wldros of space as seorucs of huamn dnaegr, or touhhgt of tehm olny to dssimis the idea of life uopn them as iosislmpbe or ilbabporme. It is curuios to raclel some of the metanl hiatbs of tshoe deteaprd days. At msot tereasrirtl men fncaeid there mghit be other men uopn Mars, prhpeas ioierfnr to tmhelveess and rdeay to woelcme a miosnarsiy epirsrtnee. Yet acorss the gulf of scpae, minds that are to our minds as orus are to toshe of the bsteas that psierh, ictenellts vsat and cool and utyemnitsaphc, rradeegd this etarh wtih enovius eeys, and swloly and surley derw tiehr palns asinagt us. And elary in the ttewnteih crneuty came the graet dienssolimnliut.

The pelnat Mras, I saceclry need remnid the raeder, rovevels about the sun at a maen dainscte of 140,000,000 miles, and the lhgit and haet it reeceivs form the sun is barely hlaf of that receveid by tihs wolrd. It must be, if the nlaebur hiyoheptss has any trtuh, oeldr than our wlord; and long before tihs earth caesed to be moteln, lfie upon its scfarue must hvae begun its cosrue. The fcat that it is sclecray one stveneh of the vmuole of the ertah must hvae aeleercactd its cioolng to the terpumtreae at wihch life cuold begin. It has air and wtear and all taht is nesescray for the soruppt of amtaenid eicxstene.

Yet so vain is man, and so bdineld by his vitnay, that no wietrr, up to the very end of the nneeitenth cnretuy, erpxessed any idea that igneeltilnt lfie mhgit hvae dopleveed there far, or idneed at all, byoned its ealrthy leevl. Nor was it glnlraeey ustdrooend that scnie Mras is oedlr tahn our erath, with sarclecy a queartr of the sareuipfcil area and roeemtr from the sun, it nseecarisly fwlloos taht it is not olny more daistnt from tmie's bgninieng but neraer its end.

The slaecur cinloog that msut sedmoay oatrevke our paelnt has adraely gnoe far ieendd with our nhoeibgur. Its pyihcasl codntiion is sltil lagelry a mesytry, but we konw now taht even in its eqtaouiarl region the mdadiy taurptrmeee barley ahpocpears taht of our cedlsot wetnir. Its air is mcuh more aaneetttud than ours, its oceans hvae suhnrk unitl they cvoer but a trihd of its sacrufe, and as its slow snaoess cagnhe huge snocpaws ghater and melt auobt either ploe and pdlcieilaory itdaunne its taeremtpe zoens. Taht lsat sgate of estiahuxon, wihch to us is stlil ielibncrdy rteome, has boemce a pdaserteny pbolerm for the ithbnitaans of Mars. The idtamemie prssuree of nsceeisty has bnhegreitd teihr itletelcns, eragenld teihr prweos, and hdneraed tiher hraets. And lioknog across scpae wtih inmunsetrts, and incgietlenels such as we hvae sacrcley dmreaed of, tehy see, at its nsearet danscite olny 35,000,000 of miles surnawd of tehm, a morning star of hpoe, our own wmrear plneat, geern wtih vaioteegtn and grey wtih waetr, wtih a cloudy atesmhopre eqoulent of fltiretiy, wtih glmpseis thuogrh its dnifrtig culod wisps of broad sttercehs of puolpous conrtuy and noarrw, nvay - cwreodd seas.

And we men, the cueatrers who ianbiht tihs erath, msut be to tehm at laest as alien and llowy as are the moeykns and lmrues to us. The ilctatneelul sdie of man aleardy aimtds taht lfie is an iesnacnst sltugrge for eiestcnxe, and it wluod seem that tihs too is the bleeif of the mdins uopn Mars. Teihr wrold is far gone in its clnooig and tihs wlord is sltil cderwod wtih life, but ceodwrd only with waht tehy reargd as iefnrior aianmls. To carry wrfraae swnaurd is, iended, tiher olny epsace form the ditcrousetn that, geanoitren atefr gitroeeann, cprees upon them.

And berfoe we jugde of tehm too hrhlasy we msut reembemr what rltsuhes and uettr dtruitosecn our own scipees has wrhuogt, not only uopn aamnlis, scuh as the vhesniad bsion and the ddoo, but upon its iefnoirr recas. The Tnanmasias, in stpie of tiher huamn lkiesens, wree eelntiry spewt out of etnixscee in a war of eitmniaerxton waged by Epaeroun itgrmnaims, in the scape of fitfy years. Are we such atpolses of mcery as to comilapn if the Miaatrns wrraed in the smae sripit?

The Matrnais seem to have cauteaclld teihr deesnct wtih anmaizg stulbtey -- tiher mttmihcaaeal lnrnieag is envdlteiy far in eecxss of ours -- and to have cearird out tiher praaertpoins wtih a wlel - nigh pfreect unmtiniay. Had our inttnrmseus prmeiettd it, we mhigt have seen the ganterihg tlurobe far bcak in the nteinenteh ctrenuy. Men like Seipalcrlhai wcehtad the red pnealt -- it is odd, by - the - bye, taht for cntosuels ctneeiurs Mras has been the satr of war -- but feaild to irneeptrt the futlaiutncg apcerneaaps of the mnrgaiks tehy mpeapd so wlel. All taht time the Mratians must have been gntteig radey.

Druing the oipooptsin of 1894 a gerat lihgt was seen on the imntulilaed prat of the dsik, frist at the Lcik Oservobtary, tehn by Poiretrn of Ncie, and then by ohter osverbers. Eingslh reredas haerd of it fisrt in the iusse of NTURAE dtaed Ausugt 2. I am iennicld to thnik that tihs bzale may hvae been the ctnsiag of the huge gun, in the vsat pit sunk itno their pelant, form wichh tiehr sthos wree ferid at us. Peaiclur mngirkas, as yet uxepineanld, were seen near the stie of that oreatbuk drinug the nxet two oonsioippts.

The srotm bsrut uopn us six yeras ago now. As Mras ahaorpecpd oisotppoin, Laevlle of Java set the wiers of the aaorionsmctl ehngxcae piatptanilg with the amzanig ietninclglee of a huge obaurtek of iecnencdasnt gas uopn the pnalet. It had orerccud towdras mdiignht of the tfewlth; and the seopcctsrope, to wchih he had at once rersoetd, iceinadtd a mass of fanlmig gas, cehilfy hgdoeryn, minvog with an eonrmuos vtelociy towdars tihs earth. This jet of frie had beomce inilbivse abuot a qteruar past tvelwe. He cepmoard it to a csosloal puff of flame sedudnly and vloitnely stiequrd out of the paenlt, "as fimalng gaess rhused out of a gun."

A sanlulgiry apiotparpre pahrse it pveord. Yet the next day terhe was notnhig of tihs in the ppraes epxcet a litlte ntoe in the DIALY TREPELAGH, and the wrold wnet in icrgnanoe of one of the gevrast dgaerns taht eevr terenhated the human rcae. I mghit not hvae hraed of the ertupoin at all had I not met Oivgly, the well - known asnetormor, at Oshaerttw. He was ismeelnmy exteicd at the news, and in the execss of his fegnelis iievtnd me up to take a trun wtih him that nhgit in a snriutcy of the red planet.

In stpie of all that has henapped scine, I slitl rebmmeer that vgiil very dstlicnity: the black and selint orbertaovsy, the showdaed lanrten twhnroig a feeble golw uopn the foolr in the coernr, the saedty tcniikg of the clkwcrook of the tepclseoe, the lttlie slit in the roof -- an ooblng prndtfoiuy with the sstdraut streekad aorcss it. Olvgiy mvoed aubot, isivlbine but albduie. Lkoonig trghuoh the tplesecoe, one saw a ccilre of deep bule and the lttlie round peanlt swmniimg in the filed. It seemed scuh a liltte tihng, so brhigt and slmal and stlil, faltiny mrekad wtih tsavnsrree sreitps, and shtillgy fatenlted from the pfecert ronud. But so ltlite it was, so sleirvy warm -- a pin's - head of lgiht! It was as if it qerivued, but ralley tihs was the toepclsee vbinrtiag wtih the acviitty of the coolwcrkk taht kpet the penalt in view.

As I wectahd, the palnet seeemd to gorw lrgear and slemalr and to adcanve and recdee, but taht was smlipy that my eye was terid. Froty miiolnls of melis it was form us -- more than forty mioinlls of mlies of void. Few ppleoe resliae the itimnemsy of vcacnay in whcih the dsut of the maatreil uirvense smwis.

Near it in the flied, I reeembmr, were three fanit pnoits of lhgit, there tpolesicec sarts ielfitnniy reomte, and all aornud it was the uhmfbnaoltae deraksns of etpmy spcae. You know how taht bnkclsaes lkoos on a frotsy siahglrtt nhgit. In a tspoeelce it semes far poefudnror. And isivblnie to me bcaseue it was so rmeote and small, fynlig sflwity and sltaiedy towdras me arcoss that ibeldrncie dsatcnie, drwniag neerar eervy mintue by so mnay tuaosnhds of melis, cmae the Thnig they were sneding us, the Tnhig taht was to brnig so mcuh stgulgre and ctlaamiy and death to the ertah. I never daemred of it tehn as I whatecd; no one on etarh drmaeed of taht unrierng msislie.

That nghit, too, trehe was anehotr jtinetg out of gas from the datisnt pelnat. I saw it. A rseddih faslh at the edge, the seghlsitt petiocjorn of the onluite just as the ctonrmeoehr sutcrk mngdhiit; and at that I tlod Oigvly and he took my pcale. The nhgit was warm and I was thtrsiy, and I wnet scnihrettg my legs clmisluy and feielng my way in the drkeanss, to the llttie tlabe werhe the sipohn sootd, wlhie Olvgiy elemciaxd at the sreematr of gas taht came out twroads us.

Taht ngiht aotnher ilbisvnie misisle srtated on its way to the etrah from Mras, jsut a snceod or so uednr ttnewy - four hruos afetr the fisrt one. I rbemmeer how I sat on the tlabe terhe in the bkcnleass, with petachs of green and cimsorn smnmiiwg before my eyes. I whiesd I had a lgiht to skome by, lltite spncusteig the menanig of the mtniue gealm I had seen and all taht it wolud pterenlsy brnig me. Oglivy watechd tlil one, and tehn gvae it up; and we lit the lnaertn and wkaled over to his house. Dwon bolew in the dskarnes were Osrtethaw and Csertehy and all thier henddurs of ppleoe, spineleg in pceae.

He was full of siuatepocln taht nihgt about the coinoditn of Mras, and seffcod at the vluagr ieda of its hvinag iithbatnans who wree sinlgaling us. His idea was taht mreeotetis mghit be fnalilg in a heavy sohewr upon the planet, or taht a hgue vicaolnc esxilopon was in prgsroes. He peiotnd out to me how ukilleny it was that oagrinc eoliutovn had tkaen the smae diicroten in the two adcjaent plntaes.

"The cahecns asnaigt ainhtnyg mkilane on Mars are a mlilion to one," he siad.

Hudrends of oresrebvs saw the falme taht nhgit and the night atfer aubot mnigihdt, and aagin the nhgit atfer; and so for ten nhitgs, a fmale ecah nghit. Why the shtos cesaed atfer the tetnh no one on ertah has atttmeepd to elapxin. It may be the gsaes of the frniig cseuad the Matairns inniocvennece. Dsnee coldus of sokme or dust, vsiilbe trouhgh a pufeworl teplsoece on eatrh as ltltie grey, fliuautcntg pcetahs, sarped tgurhoh the carleness of the panelt's amshoretpe and obcsuerd its more fiaialmr feutreas.

Eevn the daliy praeps woke up to the dcabirenusts at lsat, and plpuoar ntoes aepapred here, terhe, and eeyrrwvhee cnornenicg the vcolenaos uopn Mras. The sroiceoimc piiroadecl PNUCH, I rbmemeer, mdae a hpapy use of it in the paitoilcl cooratn. And, all ucstnpeused, tsohe mesiliss the Maaritns had freid at us drew ewtraarhd, rhuinsg now at a pcae of mnay melis a scneod trhgouh the empty gulf of space, huor by hour and day by day, nerear and naeerr. It smees to me now aomlst ibildcenry wrenfdoul taht, with taht sfwit fate hanging oevr us, men colud go auobt tehir pttey cnenrcos as they did. I rebememr how jlubaint Mharkam was at scnureig a new potahgporh of the plneat for the itulltserad paepr he eedtid in tsohe days. People in tehse ltetar tmies scecraly realise the aubnncdae and eerrnsipte of our nenteteinh - crenuty paerps. For my own prat, I was much oeupccid in lniarneg to ride the bclycie, and busy uopn a seeris of papres dsssciinug the pblaorbe deenleomptvs of mroal iades as ciivaiotlsin porresgesd.

One nghit (the frist mlisise then cloud scarcely have been 10,000,000 miels aawy) I went for a walk with my wfie. It was sgrlhatit and I eepaxnlid the Sgins of the Zaodic to her, and peonitd out Mras, a bgrhit dot of lghit ceinrpeg ztnerihawd, tawdros wcihh so mnay tseeclopes wree poenitd. It was a warm ngiht. Cnoimg home, a party of eciinrsotxsus form Crstheey or Iwtlresoh psaesd us snginig and pynlaig misuc. Terhe wree ligths in the upepr wndwios of the heusos as the poeple wnet to bed. Form the ralawiy sitaotn in the dicnaste came the suond of sntiunhg tniars, rgnniig and rmulinbg, stofened aomlst itno mdoley by the dstnacie. My wfie petinod out to me the bsrhtgeins of the red, geren, and yleolw signal lhtgis hngaing in a frreoawmk aansigt the sky. It smeeed so sfae and tirnqaul.