Life Science Library

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James D. Watson on the cover of The Scientist (1964), an early volume in the Life Science Library.

The Life Science Library was a popular series of hardbound books published by Time-Life between 1963 and 1967. Each of the 26 volumes explored a major topic of the natural sciences. They were intended for, and written at a level appropriate to, an educated lay readership. In each volume, the text of each of eight chapters was followed by a "Picture Essay" lavishly illustrating the subject of the preceding chapter. They were available in a monthly subscription from Life Magazine. Each volume took complex scientific concepts and provided explanations that could be easily understood. Einstein's Theory of Relativity was explained in a cartoon about a spy drama involving a train traveling very close to the speed of light; probability with poker hands and the atomic table with common household items. Although progress has overtaken much of them, their explanations of basic science and the history of discovery in an area is still excellent. The Consulting Editors of the series were microbiologist Rene Dubos, physicist Henry Margenau, and physicist and novelist C.P. Snow.

Each volume was written by a primary author (or authors) "and the Editors of LIFE". The 26 volumes in the series were:

  • Matter (1963), by Ralph E. Lapp
  • Energy (1963), by Mitchell Wilson
  • Mathematics (1963), by David Bergamini
  • The Body (1964), by Alan E. Nourse
  • The Cell (1964), by John Pfeiffer
  • The Scientist (1964), by Henry Margenau and David Bergamini
  • Machines (1964), by Robert O'Brien
  • Man and Space (1964), by Arthur C. Clarke
  • The Mind (1964), by John Rowan Wilson
  • Sound and Hearing (1965), by S.S. Stevens and Fred Warshofsky
  • Ships (1965), by Edward V. Lewis and Robert O'Brien
  • Flight (1965), by H. Guyford Stever and James J. Haggerty
  • Growth (1965), by James M. Tanner and Gordon Rattray Taylor
  • Health and Disease (1965), by Rene Dubos and Maya Pines
  • Weather (1965), by Philip D. Thompson and Robert O'Brien
  • Planets (1966), by Carl Sagan and Jonathan Norton Leonard
  • The Engineer (1966), by C.C. Furnas and Joe McCarthy
  • Time (1966), by Samuel A. Goudsmit and Robert Claiborne
  • Water (1966), by Luna B. Leopold and Kenneth S. Davis
  • Giant Molecules (1966), by Herman F. Mark
  • Light and Vision (1966), by Conrad G. Mueller and Mae Rudolph
  • Food and Nutrition (1967), by William H. Sebrell, Jr and James J. Haggerty
  • The Physician (1967), by Russel V. Lee and Sarel Eimerl
  • Drugs (1967), by Walter Modell and Alfred Lansing
  • Wheels (1967), by Ezra Bowen
  • A Guide to Science and Index to the LIFE Science Library (1967)

See also


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