LONGLISTED FOR THE 2017 ORWELL PRIZE

'Eye-opening, extraordinary insights into ordinary lives' Financial Times
'Superb' Literary Review

The remarkable story of a unique series of studies that have touched the lives of almost everyone in Britain today

In March 1946, scientists began to track thousands of children born in one cold week. No one imagined that this would become the longest-running study of human development in the world, growing to encompass five generations of children. Today, they are some of the best-studied people on the planet, and the simple act of observing human life has changed the way we are born, schooled, parent and die. This is the tale of these studies and the remarkable discoveries that have come from them. Touching almost every person in Britain today, they are one of our best-kept secrets.

'If you ever wondered whether the circumstances of your early life steered you along a particular path, look no further than this book ... highly readable ... a goldmine of social history' Eric Kaufmann, Literary Review

'Hugely engaging ... the scientists are an irresistibly eccentric, passionate bunch' Nick Curtis, Evening Standard

The remarkable story of a unique series of studies that have touched the lives of almost everyone in Britain today.

About the Author
Helen Pearson is a science journalist and editor for the international science journal Nature. She has been writing for Nature since 2001 and her stories have won accolades including the 2010 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award and two best feature awards from the Association of British Science Writers. Based in London, she has a PhD in genetics and spent eight years with Nature in New York. The Life Project is her first book, and was highly commended at the British Medical Association Book Awards in 2017.

Reviews
An elegant mix of science and human drama, The Life Project was - by a considerable measure in my view - the best science book published this year -- Robin McKie, Best Science Books of 2016 * Observer *
An elegant mix of science and human drama, The Life Project was - by a considerable measure in my view - the best science book published this year -- Robin McKie, Best Science Books of 2016 * Observer *
Eye-opening book, extraordinary insights into ordinary lives ... Part scientific narrative and part postwar social history, along with some fantastically cut-throat academic politics ... A very British success story -- Isabel Berwick * Financial Times *
Fascinating, shocking, heartening ... The greatest scientific experiment in modern British history -- Dominic Sandbrook * Daily Mail *
Highly enjoyable ... Reading this book has reminded me of how much we owe to birth cohorts and their participants ... Delightful -- Kate Pickett * author of The Spirit Level *
A spellbinding account of the UK's pioneering cohort studies ... [A] cogent, persuasive book -- Robin McKie * Observer *
Intriguing ... [A] fine, detailed book -- Jenni Russell, 'Must Reads' * Sunday Times *
Fascinating -- Alice Jones * Independent *
The Life Project is in many ways a very British story ... Absorbing ... A tribute to Helen Pearson's skill as a writer -- Keith Kahn-Harris * Independent *
Hugely engaging, and gives much to chew on ... the scientists are an irresistibly eccentric, passionate bunch -- Nick Curtis * Evening Standard *
A highly readable, deeply informative book ... If you ever wondered whether the circumstances of your early life steered you along a particular path, look no further than this book ... [Pearson] does a superb job of bringing [the cohort studies] to life ... -- Eric Kaufmann * Literary Review *
Fascinating ... A cogent exploration of Britain's groundbreaking birth-cohort studies ... The Life Project does a great service in bringing them and the people at their heart to life -- Andrew Steptoe * Nature *
Pearson has done a real service in explaining how wide-ranging these extraordinary and little-known studies have been -- Michael Prodger * The Times *
Persuasively argues ... the beauty and sheer vision of these longitudinal cohort studies * Telegraph *
Incredible * Tech Insider *



Book Information
ISBN 9780141976617
Author Helen Pearson
Format Paperback
Page Count 416
Imprint Penguin Books Ltd
Publisher Penguin Books Ltd
Weight(grams) 303g
Dimensions(mm) 198mm * 129mm * 23mm