First published in 1936, this volume contains six of the Halley Stewart Lectures – originally founded "For Research towards the Christian Ideal in All Social Life" – by some of the greatest of English scientists of the mid-20th century, each a leading authority in his respective field: cosmology, physics, meteorology, medicine and genetics.

The final lecture considers the relationship between scientific knowledge and human ideals, commenting on the paradox that a century which produced such scientific advance also witnessed the most concentrated period of social, economic and political turmoil in world history.

Sir James Jeans, F.R.S. Sir William Bragg, O.M., F.R.S. Professor E. V. Appleton, F.R.S. Professor E. Mellanby, F.R.S. Professor J. B. S. Haldane, F.R.S. Professor Julian Huxley