H. G. Wells's "World Brain" is a collection of essays proposing a universal, accessible information system. It is notable for anticipating modern concepts of the internet and global knowledge networks.
Continue through this collection
Reader guide
World Brain collects H. G. Wells’s 1930s essays proposing a continuously revised, widely accessible organization of human knowledge.
Why it matters
Wells proposes a permanent editorial organization in which specialists would coordinate, revise, and distribute reference knowledge for education and public decision-making—not a technical design for the modern internet.
What you will find
Arguments for a world encyclopedia, educational reform, expert collaboration, and the public organization of knowledge.
Available edition: Read the full public-domain text in the Internet Archive.