Contributor(s): Dr Helen Pearson | On 5th March 1946 a survey began that is, today, the longest-running study of human development in the world, and has grown to encompass six generations of children and over 70,000 people. They have become some of the best-studied people on the planet. The simple act of observing human life has changed the way we are born, schooled, parent and die, and irrevocably altered our understanding of inequality and health. In this lecture Helen Pearson will talk about her new book, The Life Project: The Extraordinary Story of 70,000 Ordinary Lives, which is the tale of these studies, the scientists who created and sustain them, the discoveries that have come from them. The envy of scientists around the world, they are one of Britain's best-kept secrets. Helen Pearson (@hcpearson) 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. Mike Savage (@MikeSav47032563) is Martin White Professor of Sociology, head of the department of Sociology and Co-Director of the LSE International Inequalities Institute. The Department of Sociology at LSE (@LSEsociology) was established in 1904 and remains committed to top quality teaching and leading research and scholarship today.