# Life Science Library

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{{short description|Book series}}
{{More citations needed|date=November 2025}}
The '''Life Science Library''' is a series of hardbound books published by [Time Life](/source/Time_Life) between 1963 and 1967. Each of the 26 volumes explores a major topic of the [natural sciences](/source/natural_sciences) at a level appropriate to an educated lay readership. In each volume, the text of each of eight chapters is followed by a "Picture Essay" illustrating the subject of the preceding chapter. They were available in a monthly subscription from ''[Life](/source/Life_(magazine))'' magazine. The series explains scientific concepts in simple metaphors; for example, [Albert Einstein](/source/Albert_Einstein)'s [theory of relativity](/source/theory_of_relativity) is explained in a cartoon about a spy drama involving a train traveling very close to the speed of light, probability is explained with poker hands, and the [periodic table of the elements](/source/periodic_table_of_the_elements) is conveyed with common household items. Although progress has overtaken much of the material in the more than 50 years since their publication, the series' explanations of basic science and the history of discovery remain valid. The consulting editors of the series are [microbiologist](/source/microbiologist) [René Dubos](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Dubos), [physicist](/source/physicist) [Henry Margenau](/source/Henry_Margenau), and physicist and novelist [C. P. Snow](/source/C._P._Snow).

Each volume was written by a primary author or authors, "and the Editors of ''LIFE''". The volumes are:

*''Matter'' (1963), by [Ralph E. Lapp](/source/Ralph_Lapp)
*''Energy'' (1963), by [Mitchell Wilson](/source/Mitchell_Wilson)
*''Mathematics'' (1963), by [David Bergamini](/source/David_Bergamini)
*''The Body'' (1964), by [Alan E. Nourse](/source/Alan_E._Nourse)
*''The Cell'' (1964), by [John E. Pfeiffer](/source/John_E._Pfeiffer)
*''The Scientist'' (1964), by [Henry Margenau](/source/Henry_Margenau) and [David Bergamini](/source/David_Bergamini)
*''Machines'' (1964), by [Robert O'Brien](/source/Robert_C._O'Brien_(author))
*''Man and Space'' (1964), by [Arthur C. Clarke](/source/Arthur_C._Clarke)
*''The Mind'' (1964), by [John Rowan Wilson](/source/John_Rowan_Wilson)
*''Sound and Hearing'' (1965), by [S. S. Stevens](/source/Stanley_Smith_Stevens) and [Fred Warshofsky](/source/Fred_Warshofsky)
*''Ships'' (1965), by [Edward V. Lewis](/source/Edward_V._Lewis) and [Robert O'Brien](/source/Robert_C._O'Brien_(author))
*''Flight'' (1965), by [H. Guyford Stever](/source/H._Guyford_Stever) and [James J. Haggerty](/source/James_J._Haggerty)
*''Growth'' (1965), by [James M. Tanner](/source/James_M._Tanner) and [Gordon Rattray Taylor](/source/Gordon_Rattray_Taylor)
*''Health and Disease'' (1965), by [René Dubos](/source/Ren%C3%A9_Dubos) and [Maya Pines](/source/Maya_Pines)
*''Weather'' (1965), by [Philip D. Thompson](/source/Philip_D._Thompson) and [Robert O'Brien](/source/Robert_C._O'Brien_(author))
*''Planets'' (1966), by [Carl Sagan](/source/Carl_Sagan) and [Jonathan Norton Leonard](/source/Jonathan_Norton_Leonard)
*''The Engineer'' (1966), by [C.C. Furnas](/source/Clifford_C._Furnas) and [Joe McCarthy](/source/Joe_McCarthy_(writer))
*''Time'' (1966), by [Samuel A. Goudsmit](/source/Samuel_Goudsmit) and [Robert Claiborne](/source/Robert_Claiborne)
*''Water'' (1966), by [Luna B. Leopold](/source/Luna_B._Leopold) and [Kenneth S. Davis](/source/Kenneth_S._Davis)
*''Giant Molecules'' (1966), by [Herman F. Mark](/source/Herman_F._Mark)
*''Light and Vision'' (1966), by [Conrad G. Mueller](/source/Conrad_G._Mueller) and [Mae Rudolph](/source/Mae_Rudolph)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=January 1968 |title=Light and Vision |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4441939 |journal=[The American Biology Teacher](/source/The_American_Biology_Teacher) |volume=30 |issue=1 |pages=56 |doi=10.2307/4441939 |via=[JSTOR](/source/JSTOR)}}</ref>
*''Food and Nutrition'' (1967), by [William H. Sebrell, Jr](/source/William_H._Sebrell%2C_Jr) and [James J. Haggerty](/source/James_J._Haggerty)
*''The Physician'' (1967), by [Russel V. Lee](/source/Russel_V._Lee) and [Sarel Eimerl](/source/Sarel_Eimerl)
*''Drugs'' (1967), by [Walter Modell](/source/Walter_Modell) and [Alfred Lansing](/source/Alfred_Lansing)<ref>{{Cite journal |date=January 1969 |title=Drugs |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/4442384 |journal=[The American Biology Teacher](/source/The_American_Biology_Teacher) |volume=31 |issue=1 |pages=49 |doi=10.2307/4442384 |via=[JSTOR](/source/JSTOR)}}</ref>
*''Wheels'' (1967), by Ezra Bowen
*''A Guide to Science and Index to the LIFE Science Library'' (1967)

==See also==
*[Life Nature Library](/source/Life_Nature_Library)

== References ==
{{Reflist}}{{Authority control}}

Category:Science books
Category:Time Life book series

{{biology-book-stub}}

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Life Science Library](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Science_Library) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Life_Science_Library?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.