H G Wells is one of the 'fathers' of Science Fiction. His novel 'The First Men in the Moon' chronicles humanity's first faltering steps to the stars. The story uses a human-meets-alien adventure to juxtapose two characters whose temperaments personify the extremes of scientific endeavour - the disinterested researcher and the seeker after fame and fortune. Wells' description of spaceflight, including weightlessness, low-gravity gymnastics on the moon and re-entry angles for returning spacecraft, have all proved amazingly prescient. His books have retained their popularity with the public for more than a century.