The Science of Life

The Science of Life is a collection of nine books in three volumes written by Julian Huxley and G. P. Wells, edited by H. G. Wells and published by The Waverley Publishing Company Ltd in 1929-30, describing all major aspects of biology as known in the 1920s. The full details of its publishing record are as follows:

Wells H.G., Huxley Julian S. and Wells G.P. 1929-30. The Science of Life: a summary of contemporary knowledge about life and its possibilities. First issued in 31 fortnightly parts published by Amalgamated Press, 1929-30, bound up in three volumes as publication proceeded. First issued in one volume by Cassell in 1931, reprinted 1934, 1937; popular edition, fully revised, 1938. Published as separate volumes by Cassell 1934-37: I The living body. II Patterns of life (1934). III Evolution—fact and theory. IV Reproduction, heredity and the development of sex. V The history and adventure of life. VI The drama of life. VII How animals behave (1937). VIII Man's mind and behaviour. IX Biology and the human race. Published in New York by Doubleday, Doran & Co. 1931, 1934, 1939; and by The Literary Guild 1934. Three of the Cassell spin-off books were also published by Doubleday in 1932: Evolution, fact and theory; The human mind and the behavior of Man; Reproduction, genetics and the development of sex.

Of historic interest is Book Three - The Incontrovertible Fact of Evolution, comprising five chapters; I The fact to be proved, II The evidence in the rocks, III The evidence from plant and animal structure, IV The evidence from the variation and distribution of living things, V The evolution of Man. Considering that this was written less than five years from the Scopes Trial, it is a bold, comprehensive account of the scientific knowledge of evolution at the time.

The reference given is the most complete available, but there may have been other publishers and dates, and some books may have been given alternative titles. There are editions in some other languages.

Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH)

Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH)
The Lifetime Surveillance of Astronaut Health (LSAH) is a proactive occupational surveillance program for the astronaut corps to screen and monitor astronauts for occupational related injury or disease. The LSAH program examines the incidence of acute and chronic morbidity and mortality of astronauts, and defines the risks of morbidity and mortality associated with the occupational exposures encountered by astronauts. From the evidence obtained, individually tailored follow-up medical examinations will be designed to track the astronaut population more rigorously and capture sub-clinical medical events. This enables systematic evaluation of astronauts to detect potential health problems at an early state and to facilitate action to prevent the development or progression of occupationally-related diseases. Statistical analyses and reports generation are conducted to support clinical care and occupational surveillance, Space Medicine operations and countermeasure effectiveness assessment. Active surveillance for outcomes of particular interest shall be conducted. Operational investigations shall be conducted as needed to support the following activities:

1) population-based clinical care and occupational surveillance, including evaluation of exposure histories and follow-up based on clinical protocols
2) active surveillance for conditions of interest
3) Space Medicine operations and countermeasure effectiveness assessment
4) analyses supporting development of requirements for human-rated vehicles
5) the Human Research Program gap assessment
6) transition to operations assessment.


The LSAH Repository (LSAH-R) was established to implement a research component to enable analysis of astronaut medical data. The LSAH-R research proposal has been approved by the JSC IRB. Informed consent for use of medical data for research purposes shall be obtained from NASA astronauts. The LSAH-R will support research studies through epidemiologic analyses, data exploration and data visualization techniques.

Limitations of the Data: The primary goal for collecting the data is for clinical purposes, rather than a research study. The data content is driven by crew surgeon need – the data may list outcome (e.g. “normal”) rather than a specific value, the data may not always be collected for each crew member, or the data may be taken under different circumstances (e.g. an astronaut returning on a Soyuz may have different test dates or even types of test than an astronaut returning on a Shuttle).