"The Chronic Argonauts" is a short story written by H. G. Wells. First published by the Royal College of Science in 1888, it predates Wells's more famous time travelling novel, The Time Machine, by seven years. Although Wells is generally credited with the popularisation of the concept of time travel by using a vehicle that allows an operator to travel purposefully and selectively, "The Clock that Went Backward" by Edward Page Mitchell, was published in 1881 and involves a clock that allows a person to travel backwards in time.