H. G. Wells (1866-1946) was an English writer and is commonly regarded as the father of science fiction. He authored more than 80 short stories and over 50 novels, including 'The Time Machine' (1895), 'The Invisible Man' (1897), and 'The War of the Worlds' (1898). He was nominated for the Nobel Prize in Literature four times and is widely considered a literary genius and futurist visionary.