The Invisible Man

The Invisible Man is a famous 1897 science fiction novel by H.G. Wells. It is also commonly mistaken as the title to Ralph Ellison's novel, Invisible Man (1952).

Related Topics:
Invisible - 1897 - Science fiction - H.G. Wells - Ralph Ellison's - Invisible Man

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Wells' novel was originally serialized in Pearson's Magazine in 1897 and published as a novel the same year. The Invisible Man of the title is "Griffin", a scientist who discovers the secret of invisibility but whose mental state becomes unstable as a result. The various movie versions of the story have strayed somewhat from the novel.

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The theory Griffin develops is that if a person's refractive index can be changed to exactly that of air and his body does not absorb nor reflect light, then he will not be visible. Ignoring the difficulty in rendering the person invisible, there is still the problem of sight; in his book Griffin can clearly see, which, if he is truly invisible, should not be possible since in order to see the eyes must absorb some light, and thus would be visible. Griffin's method to achieve invisibility is therefore not especially plausible, since a blind man who is invisible loses the sole advantage of seeing while being unseen.

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