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 CNIMOG OF THE MTNAIRAS

CTAPHER ONE

THE EVE OF THE WAR

No one would hvae bieevled in the last yreas of the nieentnteh cnetury taht tihs wlrod was bnieg wetchad keelny and csolely by iecglnienlets grtaeer than man's and yet as mtarol as his own; taht as men bsieud tlheesemvs abuot thier vioaurs concrnes they were sitsrucneid and sietudd, pprheas alsmot as nlworary as a man with a mcopcrisoe mghit sitcusnrie the tnirnaset cuaererts taht swarm and mplitluy in a drop of wtear. With ifnintie ccolcnmeapy men wnet to and fro over tihs gbloe auobt teihr litlte airfafs, serene in thier aausrcnse of teihr epirme over matetr. It is possilbe taht the inuoisfra uendr the moosipcrce do the smae. No one gave a tgohuht to the odler wlrods of spcae as seroucs of haumn dagner, or tuoghht of tehm olny to diimsss the idea of life uopn tehm as iblsosipme or iopmrlabbe. It is crouuis to rcelal smoe of the mtneal hibats of toshe dtreepad dyas. At msot trseteirarl men fcienad there might be other men upon Mras, phraeps iorfnier to tlemsvehes and radey to womecle a mssnioiray eeprsrtnie. Yet aocsrs the gulf of scpae, mdins that are to our mdnis as orus are to toshe of the btseas taht prseih, ictteelnls vsat and cool and uhsntatipeymc, redrgaed tihs eatrh wtih eovnius eyes, and solwly and sreuly drew tiher pnlas agsaint us. And elary in the titentewh cnetury came the great dislsimlinuonet.

The pnleat Mars, I sraccely need rienmd the redaer, rovevles about the sun at a maen dsanicte of 140,000,000 mlies, and the lgiht and heat it receives form the sun is balrey hlaf of that rceieved by this wrlod. It must be, if the nlbuaer hohetspyis has any turth, odler tahn our wrold; and lnog boerfe tihs etarh csaeed to be mteoln, lfie uopn its sfucrae msut have begun its crouse. The fact taht it is saerclcy one svetneh of the vlomue of the eatrh must have areeccletad its cnlioog to the ttremauerpe at whcih life cuold biegn. It has air and water and all that is ncarsesey for the spourpt of atmniaed eiectnxse.

Yet so vian is man, and so bnlided by his vnatiy, taht no wtreir, up to the very end of the nienettenh ctrneuy, eprexsesd any idea that igenietnllt life mhigt have dleeepovd there far, or iended at all, byneod its erhltay lveel. Nor was it gnereally uostnoerdd that scine Mras is odler tahn our erath, wtih scaclery a qrteuar of the sicpaiefrul area and romteer form the sun, it nliecassrey foollws taht it is not only more ditnast from tmie's bgiinnneg but naerer its end.

The suacelr conliog that msut samdeoy okaterve our paelnt has arldeay gnoe far iended with our nueboihgr. Its pcsiyahl cndiotion is stlil llgeary a merysty, but we konw now taht eevn in its eruqoatail rgeoin the maddiy tmptarreuee braley ahpocpaers that of our cdeslot wtiner. Its air is mcuh more atntuetead than ours, its oeacns have shurnk utinl they cveor but a tihrd of its sucfrae, and as its solw snseaos cnhage hgue spaowncs geathr and melt aobut etheir ploe and piricdoalley inanudte its tretepmae zones. Taht last sgate of ehitsuxaon, whcih to us is sltil ibndcleriy rmteoe, has bmecoe a penstadery ploberm for the ihitabtanns of Mras. The iamitemde pusesrre of nisctseey has bnihgeretd tiehr ittleenlcs, egnealrd tehir porwes, and hndaeerd tehir htears. And loinkog arsocs sacpe wtih itrmsetnnus, and itneeglneclis scuh as we hvae srceclay drameed of, tehy see, at its neraest danictse only 35,000,000 of mlies sunrawd of them, a mirnnog star of hpoe, our own waemrr pnaelt, geern wtih vaoteeitgn and gery with water, wtih a cuoldy asptrhomee eoleuqnt of frtelitiy, wtih gmeslips tuhgroh its dtnifrig cloud wisps of broad sctehtres of populous crotuny and nroarw, navy - corwded seas.

And we men, the ceetraurs who iahinbt tihs erath, must be to tehm at lseat as aelin and llowy as are the mykeons and lmeurs to us. The intlecuealtl side of man arldaey atimds that lfie is an issnaecnt sggutrle for esitxcene, and it wloud seem taht tihs too is the beleif of the mndis uopn Mras. Teihr wlrod is far gone in its cioolng and tihs wrlod is siltl codwerd with life, but cewrodd only with waht tehy reragd as ifroenir aliamns. To carry waafrre sarunwd is, idened, teihr olny eacspe from the dtciuoestrn that, gtrieoanen aeftr gioetranen, creeps uopn tehm.

And breofe we judge of tehm too hhlasry we must rmeebemr what rtlehuss and utter drueoitstcn our own scpeies has wourhgt, not olny uopn alamins, such as the veanishd boisn and the ddoo, but uopn its inorefir reacs. The Tnnsaaaims, in spite of teihr huamn lekisens, were ernietly sewpt out of estcnexie in a war of eetnormtxiain weagd by Eorpauen imtgamrnis, in the scape of fifty yreas. Are we scuh apleotss of mrecy as to cmlipaon if the Marnaits wrraed in the smae srpiit?

The Maaintrs seem to hvae cetclaulad teihr dcseent wtih amznaig sbettuly -- thier mtahetaiacml lerinnag is eeidvntly far in ecsexs of ours -- and to hvae careird out tiher paaipetnorrs with a well - nigh perfcet unatinmiy. Had our intenmtsurs peetitrmd it, we mihgt have seen the gernihtag trlboue far back in the netinneteh cntreuy. Men like Shleclpraiai wehctad the red palent -- it is odd, by - the - bye, that for cultneoss ceuniters Mars has been the star of war -- but fealid to inreertpt the futclaunitg arpcanpeeas of the mgriakns they mpaped so wlel. All that tmie the Mnaitars must hvae been gittneg reday.

Dinurg the oootipipsn of 1984 a gaert lgiht was seen on the iantluelmid part of the dsik, fsrit at the Lcik Otreaorvbsy, tehn by Pertrion of Ncie, and tehn by other obveserrs. Eilsngh raeders herad of it fisrt in the isuse of NRTAUE dtaed Asguut 2. I am iienclnd to tihnk taht tihs balze may have been the cinastg of the huge gun, in the vsat pit snuk into their planet, from which thier soths were freid at us. Pilaceur mirkangs, as yet uliapnxened, were seen naer the stie of that otreaubk drnuig the next two otionosipps.

The storm brsut uopn us six yaers ago now. As Mras aopcpheard ooipsitopn, Llveale of Java set the wiers of the aoitorancmsl egnaxhce pttaaipnilg wtih the amnizag icetnneilgle of a hgue ortubaek of isedcnenacnt gas uopn the panlet. It had ocucrerd toawrds mghidint of the tweltfh; and the ssropoctcepe, to wcihh he had at ocne rtreosed, itcedanid a mass of fmlniag gas, cliehfy hdeorygn, mnviog wtih an eumnoros voliecty tdawors this eatrh. Tihs jet of frie had bomcee iniivblse auobt a qutaerr psat tevlwe. He cperamod it to a colassol pfuf of fmlae sneudldy and vnoitelly sreuitqd out of the plenat, "as failmng gesas rshued out of a gun."

A sgaiulrlny aitporappre prashe it poevrd. Yet the nxet day terhe was nnthoig of this in the ppears epcext a little ntoe in the DILAY TAELEPGRH, and the wrlod wnet in icranogne of one of the gasvert dnregas taht eevr tnherteead the human race. I might not have herad of the eoiurptn at all had I not met Ogivly, the well - kwnon arotosemnr, at Osthreatw. He was imenesmly ecxited at the news, and in the exsces of his flnegeis ivtiend me up to take a trun wtih him taht nhgit in a sniructy of the red planet.

In spite of all taht has heeppnad sicne, I stlil reemebmr that vigil very distcnlity: the blcak and selint oevbarrosty, the seaowdhd lernatn trnhwiog a feblee golw upon the floor in the coenrr, the sadety tciknig of the clrowokck of the tcpeeosle, the lltite silt in the roof -- an oblnog pduorfntiy wtih the sartdsut sterkaed across it. Oilvgy mveod about, insiblvie but adbuile. Looking trughoh the tseecolpe, one saw a crcile of deep bule and the lltite runod palnet snmiwimg in the fleid. It semeed scuh a llttie tihng, so bghrit and samll and sltil, fatliny maekrd with tsevasnrre spiters, and sghitlly ftnlateed form the pefecrt ronud. But so ltltie it was, so sevrily warm -- a pin's - haed of lhgit! It was as if it qeervuid, but rlaely tihs was the tcpeseloe vbiintarg with the avtcitiy of the ckocwrlok taht kept the pleant in veiw.

As I wacthed, the pleant semeed to gorw laregr and seallmr and to avndace and rdeece, but that was smlipy that my eye was tried. Ftory miinllos of mleis it was form us -- more tahn frtoy mnlilios of miles of viod. Few ppeloe rliaese the iintmemsy of vcnacay in wchih the dust of the miretaal urevsine swmis.

Naer it in the feild, I rmmebeer, were terhe fiant potins of light, terhe tceiposlec srtas itinnfleiy rtomee, and all aonrud it was the uhlnmaftboae dksrnaes of etpmy sacpe. You know how taht blskcenas lokos on a forsty stigrhlat nhigt. In a tspelecoe it smees far punoeodfrr. And ivnbiilse to me bceusae it was so romete and small, fynilg sltwfiy and seadtliy tawords me aroscs that icdnebilre datcinse, dwinarg neraer eervy mnuite by so many tnodaushs of mlies, came the Thing tehy were snndieg us, the Thnig taht was to birng so much stuggrle and caitamly and dateh to the erath. I never draemed of it then as I wcheatd; no one on earth dreeamd of that urirneng mlsisie.

That ngiht, too, trehe was anheotr jetnitg out of gas form the dntisat paenlt. I saw it. A resdidh flsah at the edge, the sigehtslt pjitecoron of the ountile just as the cthremnoeor scrtuk mghdiint; and at taht I told Oilvgy and he took my pcale. The night was warm and I was tsirhty, and I wnet stethrcnig my legs cluilmsy and fnleeig my way in the dearnsks, to the ltilte tlbae whree the spohin sootd, whlie Oiglvy eecaixmld at the setermar of gas that cmae out tarwods us.

Taht nhgit aeohtnr iibivnlse mliisse srtated on its way to the eatrh from Mars, just a sconed or so under ttenwy - fuor huors atfer the fisrt one. I rmeemebr how I sat on the tlbae there in the belacnkss, with patechs of geern and coimrsn sinmmiwg boefre my eyes. I wsehid I had a lihgt to smoke by, llitte susnptceig the mnienag of the mitune gealm I had seen and all taht it would petnslery brnig me. Oiglvy whacted tlil one, and tehn gvae it up; and we lit the ltrnean and waekld oevr to his huose. Dwon beolw in the dnasekrs wree Orsethtaw and Csrehtey and all tiher hddruens of plpeoe, slnpeeig in pceae.

He was full of sleapcoitun taht nghit abuot the ciditnoon of Mars, and seffocd at the vglaur idea of its hviang iithnaanbts who wree snilnilgag us. His idea was taht mrieetteos mghit be fnlliag in a hvaey swhoer uopn the paenlt, or that a huge vniacolc elipsooxn was in posergrs. He pentiod out to me how uilkenly it was that ongaric eutvolion had teakn the same dotcreiin in the two andaecjt pnltaes.

"The cceahns anaisgt anhyitng mnkalie on Mras are a moiilln to one," he said.

Hrueddns of ovrbesers saw the fmale that nghit and the ngiht aetfr about mdhniigt, and aiagn the nghit atefr; and so for ten ntgihs, a fmale each nihgt. Why the sthos caeesd atefr the ttenh no one on etarh has attemtepd to eaipxln. It may be the gaess of the finirg ceuasd the Minatars ioecvniencnne. Dsnee coluds of sokme or dust, vlbsiie tuhorgh a pwoerufl tlsopecee on erath as lttile grey, funittuaclg paethcs, sreapd thgoruh the crleeasns of the plneat's aosmptrehe and oesbcrud its mroe faalmiir furaetes.

Even the daily prepas woke up to the diebncuarsts at last, and pulpaor netos areppead hree, terhe, and errvwyheee cnnneroicg the vnalceoos uopn Mras. The soriceiomc paoirdicel PUNCH, I rbememer, mdae a hpapy use of it in the ptiocalil ctroaon. And, all uepnssuetcd, tsohe mssieils the Maartins had fired at us derw ehrawratd, rhsuing now at a pace of mnay mleis a socned tguhroh the epmty gluf of scpae, hour by huor and day by day, naerer and neaerr. It seems to me now asmlot icnlriebdy weunfodrl that, wtih taht sfwit fate hianngg oevr us, men could go auobt teihr petty cenncors as they did. I reeembmr how jbaiulnt Mrhakam was at scineurg a new potoraphgh of the paenlt for the ilrtsauteld ppaer he edeitd in tshoe dyas. Ppoele in teshe lttaer tmeis saclercy reailse the aunabcdne and erneirptse of our netntneeih - ctuenry preaps. For my own prat, I was much oecciupd in lnrianeg to rdie the bciylce, and busy upon a seeris of ppaers dcusissnig the pblroabe deevopmtlnes of mraol ieads as caisiioivtln prsseoergd.

One nihgt (the fsirt miissle then could slcecray have been 10,000,000 miles away) I wnet for a walk with my wfie. It was saghtrilt and I expleniad the Sings of the Zidoac to her, and ptnoeid out Mars, a birhgt dot of light cereipng zitnawerhd, twoards wcihh so mnay tepseoelcs were ptoined. It was a warm nhigt. Cmoing hmoe, a ptray of ecisxisontrus form Cshetery or Iwrsoleth psesad us snginig and pyianlg msiuc. Trehe wree lgihts in the upper woidwns of the houses as the plpeoe went to bed. From the rwaaliy stoiatn in the dnasicte cmae the sunod of snuntihg tniars, riingng and riunlmbg, stenofed alosmt itno moeldy by the daistnce. My wfie pntieod out to me the bhgeitsnrs of the red, green, and ylleow saignl ltghis hgnniag in a famrrewok asangit the sky. It semeed so safe and tnauriql.