Herbert George Wells (1866-1946) was born in Bromley in southeast London. His father, a fast-bowling county cricketer, owned a small shop on the High Street selling cricket bats and chinaware. 'Bertie' taught biology before deciding to make his living as a professional writer. His pioneering works of science fiction predicted the aeroplane, the tank, nuclear weapons and the internet; he also wrote realist novels that espoused his progressive views on sexual equality, women's rights, socialism and science.