Life.com. 996,915 likes 269 talking about this. Incredible stories and treasured photographs from the LIFE Magazine archive.

Understanding the Context

Life exists all over the Earth in air, water, and soil, with many ecosystems forming the biosphere. Some of these are harsh environments occupied only by extremophiles. The life in a particular ecosystem is called its biota. This special edition of LIFE, with rare family and archival photos, tracks the rise of the man known to fans as JT, a beloved icon, and celebrates his achievements as an artist.

Key Insights

Life-forms present on Earth today have evolved from ancient common ancestors through the generation of hereditary variation and natural selection. The meaning of life can be derived from philosophical and religious contemplation of, and scientific inquiries about, existence, social ties, consciousness, and happiness. That ideal was celebrated in the form of Sean Penn鈥檚 character in the 2013 film The Secret Life of Walter Mitty, but in real life no one embodied it better than Margaret Bourke-White. Life is an intense sci-fi thriller about a team of scientists aboard the International Space Station whose mission of discovery turns to one of primal fear when they find a rapidly evolving... Life tells the story of the six-member crew of the International Space Station that is on the cutting edge of one of the most important discoveries in human history: the first evidence of extraterrestrial life on Mars.

Final Thoughts

All life tends to increase: more organisms are conceived, born, hatched, germinated from seed, sprouted from spores, or produced by cell division (or other means) than can possibly survive. Each organism so produced varies, however little, in some measurable way from its relatives.