History of Human Biology (1929-2004).

The journal Human Biology was founded 75 years ago by Raymond Pearl, an eminent biologist and Professor of Biometry and Vital Statistics at Johns Hopkins University. In celebration of the 75th anniversary of the founding of this journal, I was asked by the editorial board to prepare a brief history of Human Biology. In the 1989 special issue titled ‘‘Foundations of Anthropological Genetics,’’ Gabriel W. Lasker had compiled an earlier historical account of the journal. Additional comments about the circumstances surrounding his acceptance of the editorship of Human Biology in 1953 and early years of his editorship are discussed in Chapter 12 of Lasker’s memoirs, Happenings and Hearsay (Lasker 1999). In this review of the history of Human Biology I place greater emphasis on the periods that I know best, that is, from 1988 to the present, when I was either the editor-in-chief or the consulting editor. I have also provided (1) a time line of the significant events associated with 75 years of publication of this distinguished journal and (2) an analysis of the changes in topical coverage and focus from 1929 to the present.