Communicating science in the early 20th century

From the library of the Royal Society of London.

In the 1920s three men set about writing a popular science book that was "accessible to ordinary busy people". This three volume book was entitled "The Science of Life" and the three authors, Herbert George Wells, Sir Julian Huxley FRS and George Philip Wells FRS, were well-known household names at the time.

The senior member of the trio was HG Wells, author of science fiction titles such as "The War of the Worlds" (1898) and "The Invisible Man" (1897). He was joined by Sir Julian Huxley, Fellow of the Royal Society, grandson of Wells' biology teacher TH Huxley FRS and brother of Aldous Huxley, another great science fiction writer. The third author was George Philip Wells, son of Herbert George, who would later become a Fellow for his work in Zoology, and also a broadcaster for the BBC's Brains Trust.

The illustration above was used to illustrate their chapter on the nervous mechanism and the brain.