The World We Live In (Life magazine)

The World We Live In appeared in the pages of LIFE magazine from December 8, 1952, to December 20, 1954. A science series, it comprised 13 chapters published on an average of every eight weeks. Written by Lincoln Barnett, The World We Live In spanned a diverse range of topics concerning planet Earth and universe, and employed the talents of countless artists and photographers. These included, among others, cameramen Alfred Eisenstaedt and Fritz Goro, and artists Rudolph Zallinger and Chesley Bonestell.

Issues

The World We Live In was introduced to Life's readership as "the greatest series of science stories we have ever produced".^[1] It promised a "unified, understandable picture story of the planet Earth" authored by Lincoln Barnett, "one of the most literate authors in the field of science". The series itself started two issues later. Each of the chapters sported art and photos, often presented in large gatefolds which showed two sides of a scenario.

• I. The Earth Is Born - published Dec. 8, 1952.^[2] Illustrated by Chesley Bonestell, the first installment of the series covered the formation of the Earth, its composition, and its eventual demise. Contemporary principles of geology were also introduced.
• II. The Miracle Of the Sea - published Feb. 9, 1953.^[3] The second part of the series discussed the geology and geography of the ocean, its, and its effect on coastlines. The first to include a gatefold, it featured a panoramic geological cross-section of the Atlantic and Pacific coastlines of North America.
• III. The Face Of the Land - published Apr. 15, 1953^[4] Surface geology was the focus of the third chapter, which provided overviews of mountain formation and erosion. The geological formation of the New York area was included as a sample history. The gatefold showed forces of uplift in a bare landscape on one side, and the same landscape after the effects of erosion on the other side.
• IV. The Canopy Of Air - published Jun. 8, 1953.^[5] Chapter 4 was the only issue not to be featured on the cover of Life; instead, the cover story was on Roy Campanella. The Canopy Of The Air featured clouds, air currents, chemical cycles, and other atmospheric phenomena.
• V. The Pageant Of Life - published Sept. 7, 1953^[6] After a discussion of evolution, the history of life on Earth is recounted, starting with single-celled organisms and ending with the demise of the dinosaurs. For the gatefold, Rudolph Zallinger's Age of Reptiles mural was used; however, the version in The World We Live In was Zallinger's preliminary, detailed study. The actual mural in the Peabody Museum is significantly different.
• VI. The Age Of Mammals - published Oct 19, 1953^[7] Zallinger was commissioned to produce another panoramic mural, this time showcasing the evolution of mammals in North America across the Cenozoic, from small Paleocene animals to the woolly mammoth and Megatherium. The mural was eventually revised dramatically for the Peabody Museum, with several animals (such as the mammoth) revamped completely.
• VII. Creatures Of the Sea - published Nov 30, 1953^[8] After the physical properties of the ocean in part II, part VII introduced the organisms living in it. The gatefold showed the diversity of marine life on one side, and benthic organisms on the other.
• VIII. The Coral Reef - published Feb 8, 1954.^[9] Types of coral reef, different species of coral, and the colorful denizens of the Great Barrier reef were present in this chapter.
• IX. The Land Of The Sun - published Apr 5, 1954^[10] Focusing on the Sonoran Desert, part IX explained the vicissitudes of life in the desert and the adaptations of desert animals. The gatefold, painted by James Perry Wilson of the American Museum of Natural History, showed the same desert scene by day and by night. A perfectionist, Wilson worked slowly and included as much detail as possible in the panoramas. He was unable to finish by the deadline, and some animals were painted by Robert Gartland. Both paintings were presented to the Peabody Museum in 1976 by Wilson's nephews.
• X. The Arctic Barrens - published Jun 7, 1954.^[11] Life on the cold tundra was described in this installment, with a gatefold showing the seasonal transitions of the tundra. Life photographer Fritz Goro and reporter Jim Goode camped on the tundra for some seven weeks to obtain all the photos they needed, and by the end were reduced to living on macaroni.^[12]
• XI. The Rain Forest - published Sep 20, 1954^[13] The lush Amazon rainforest of Dutch Guiana was covered in part XI, with photos and several double-page spreads and a gatefold painted by Zallinger illustrating life in the forest. Zallinger, photographer Alfred Eisenstaedt, and reporter David Bergamini spent two months in Surinam gathering data.^[14]
• XII. The Woods Of Home - published Nov 8, 1954^[15] Terrain more familiar to Life's readers was discussed here, as the effects of the seasons are observed in the changing woods. Artwork by Walter Linsenmaier depicted animals of forest and pond, as well as insects of the ground and the trees. The photographs were taken in Mettler's Woods, now the Hutcheson Memorial Forest.
• XIII. The Starry Universe - published Dec 20, 1954^[16] Part XIII closed the series on a suitably grand scale, with Bonestell's art depicting the stars and planets. The gatefold showed a scale depiction of the solar system on one side, and the Local Group on the other.

Reprints

After its successful run at LIFE magazine, The World we Live in was released in book form in 1955,^[17] abridged in 1956 for younger readers by Jane Werner Watson,^[18] and re-released in a three-volume "Family Edition" in 1962.^[19][20]

The original book version of The World We Live In was not entirely complete^[21] Some minor schematic diagrams were cut to better fit the format of the book. Furthermore, some of Chesley Bonestell's artworks, including the painting illustrating the end of the Earth, were removed, possibly because they were seen as dated by then. Jane Werner Watson's edition for younger readers,^[22] on the other hand, cropped many pictures or removed them altogether; for instance, the Paleocene landscape was removed, while the eroded geological panorama was relegated to the endpapers. This led to some odd situations, with some captions referring to animals that were cropped out of the picture.^[23]

Style

Lincoln Barnett's text can be criticized of being florid, sometimes to a ludicrous degree. As one reader put it, "[I] Enjoyed "Creatures of the Sea" most of all because of the way Lincoln Barnett slings the King's English around. While Nobel Prizer Sir Winston Churchill had an easier subject, he can't hold a candle to this guy Barnett".^[24] The rationale for mammalian dominance of the Earth from Ch. VI is only one example.

Indeed, it is probable that the mammals may have survived and succeeded to hegemony of the earth not in spite of but by reason of their very weakness and obscurity, their smallness in a world dominated by giants, their nakedness in a world of armor plate -- in particular, by their fear and sensitivity and awareness in a world of unperceiving, insensate, brainless brutes.^[25]

There is also excessive personification and some bias, which is no longer favorable in objective, encyclopedic work. Large prehistoric mammals, for instance, are variously described as being "awkward" or "witless". Tyrannosaurus rex in Ch. V does not escape this treatment either.

The apogee of development was attained with the creation of Tyrannosaurus rex, the mightiest and most fearsome flesh-eater that ever terrorized the land. A towering agent of destruction, endowed with gigantic strength and power, Tyrannosaurus spanned 50 feet from nose to tail and carried his terrible head 18 to 20 feet above the ground. His hind legs were superbly muscled, from his thick thighs down to his three-toed, cruelly taloned feet. His main weapon of attack was his murderous mouth which had a gape of incredible size and was armed with rows of six-inch saberlike teeth.^[26]

Finally, apparently as part of Life's effort to make science as palatable as possible to its wide audience, the text featured as many Biblical references as possible. One reader remarked that the "text was written as if the clergy were looking over Mr. Barnett's shoulder and crossing out anything that might be in conflict with the story of Adam and Eve".^[27]

Still, the purple prose does its job of conveying awe at the natural world. Paleontologist George Olshevsky described Lincoln Barnett's text as having "the grandeur of the universe contained in every word".^[28]

Factual accuracy

Today, The World we Live In is out of date. At the time of publication, it was up-to-date with contemporary theories on the natural world, but major scientific breakthroughs in astronomy, geology, and biology severely date the series. For instance, the sections on geology assume geophysical global cooling instead of plate tectonics to explain uplift. The paleontological chapters (V and VI) are especially dated, considering the speed of new discoveries in the field and the Dinosaur Renaissance.

In contrast, the sections on various biomes such as the desert, rainforest, and woodland are still more or less accurate today, reflecting the relatively complete knowledge of them available at the time.

Reception and legacy

The World We Live In ought to be in book form. It is extraordinarily well done, comprehensive and at the same time comprehendible—a great thing.^[29]

—Roy Chapman Andrews

To own The World We Live In in book form is a not-to-be-missed opportunity for any family—old or young, it's a wonderful and exciting adventure in learning.^[30]

—Walt Disney

The World We Live In, with its several incarnations, successfully brought the intricacies of science to the baby boom generation. By the time the book version was being published, endorsements were printed by notable people, including paleontologist Roy Chapman Andrews, filmmaker Walt Disney, and Admiral Richard E. Byrd. The "Letters to the Editors" page frequently featured glowing reviews of the series, as well as letters from creationists that either embraced or rejected it.

After publishing chapter XII on Mettler's Woods, Life received mail from the Citizens' Committee for the Preservation of Mettler's Woods, which congratulated them for the article and encouraged readers to help save the forest from destruction.^[31] Eventually, a letter from the Committee was published announcing that they had "raised to funds to purchase and study these woods and adjoining woodlands", adding that Life's article "not only stimulated several hundred persons to contribute to the fund to save one of the last primeval American forests, but encouraged the United Brotherhood of Carpenters and Joiners of America to contribute $75,000 in memory of W. L. Hutcheson".^[32] The forest was renamed the Hutcheson Memorial Forest.

Paleontologist Bob Bakker mentions Zallinger's dinosaurs as the spark that ignited his passion for prehistory; ironically, Bakker himself would later argue against Zallinger's rendition. George Olshevsky also cites The World We Live In as introducing him to science, and adds that he suggested authoring an updated version; however, Life's editors were not interested.^[33] The World We Live In was also the basis for a science series by the German comic book Mosaik.^[34]

The World We Live In was followed by The Epic of Man, focusing on the development and history of human civilization, and The Wonders of Life on Earth, a series of articles tracing Darwin and evolution. Both of these were written by Barnett as well, and featured many of the same artists. Life's series on the International Geological Year was hailed as a spiritual "update" to The World We Live In.

References

1. "Announcing The Greatest Life Science Series The World We Live In". (Nov 24, 1952) Life, Vol. 33, No. 21, p. 129
2. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part I The Earth Is Born" (Dec. 8, 1952) Life, Vol. 33, No. 23
3. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part II The Miracle Of The Sea" (Feb. 9, 1953) Life, Vol. 34, No. 6
4. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part III The Face Of The Land" (Apr. 15, 1953) Life, Vol. 34, No. 15
5. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part IV The Canopy Of Air" (Jun. 8, 1953) Life, Vol. 34, No. 23
6. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part V The Pageant Of Life" (Sept. 7, 1953) Life, Vol. 35, No. 10
7. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part VI Age Of Mammals" (Oct 19, 1953) Life, Vol. 35, No. 16
8. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part VII Creatures of the Sea" (Nov 30, 1953) Life, Vol. 35, No. 22
9. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part VIII The Coral Reef" (Feb 8, 1954) Life, Vol. 36, No. 6
10. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part IX The Land Of The Sun" (Apr 5, 1954) Life, Vol. 36, No. 14
11. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part X The Arctic Barrens" (Jun 7, 1954) Life, Vol. 36, No. 23
12. "Life Sent Expedition To Tundra" (Jun 7, 1954) Life, Vol. 36, No. 23, p. 116
13. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part XI The Rain Forest" (Sep 20, 1954) Life, Vol. 37, No. 12
14. "In Next Week's Issue". (Sep 13, 1954) Life, Vol. 37, No. 11, p. 177
15. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part XII The Woods Of Home" (Nov 8, 1954) Life, Vol. 37, No. 19
16. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part XIII The Starry Universe" (Dec 20, 1954) Life, Vol. 37, No. 25
17. "An Extraordinary Book". (May 9, 1955) Life, Vol. 38, No. 19, p. 157
18. "Announcing the New Special Edition of Life's The World we Live In". (Nov 12, 1956) Life, Vol. 41, No. 20, p. 5
19. "The World We Live In Now in a Special Family Edition". (Jan 24, 1964) Life, Vol. 56, No. 4, p. 74 (Kroger)
20. Time; Kroger (24 January 1964). Life (magazine) (Vol. 56, No. 4 ed.). New York: Time Inc. p. R6. Retrieved 7 September 2011.
21. Barnett, L. and the editors of Life. (1955) The World We Live In.
22. Watson, J. W. and Barnett, L. and the editors of Life. (1956) The World We Live In Special Edition For Younger Readers. Collins.
23. Watson, J. W. and Barnett, L. and the editors of Life. (1956) The World We Live In Special Edition For Younger Readers. Collins.
24. "Letters to the Editors". (Dec 21, 1953) Life, Vol. 35, No. 25, p. 1
25. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part VI Age Of Mammals" (Oct 19, 1953) Life, Vol. 35, No. 16, p. 109
26. Barnett, L. "The World We Live In: Part V The Pageant Of Life" (Sept. 7, 1953) Life, Vol. 35, No. 10, pp. 68-69
27. "Letters to the Editors". (Nov 9, 1953) Life, Vol. 35, No. 19, p. 11
28. http://dml.cmnh.org/2001Jan/msg00424.html
29. "An Extraordinary Book" (May 9, 1955). Life, Vol. 38, No. 19, p. 158
30. "An Extraordinary Book" (May 9, 1955). Life, Vol. 38, No. 19, p. 159
31. "Letters to the Editors". (Nov. 29, 1954) Life, Vol. 37, No. 22, p. 12
32. "Letters to the Editors". (Jun. 20, 1955) Life, Vol. 38, No. 25, p. 14
33. http://dml.cmnh.org/2001Jan/msg00424.html
34. http://www.mosapedia.de/wiki/index.php/Die_Welt_in_der_wir_leben