Aldous Huxley, 1894–1963. The novels, short stories, and essays of the English author Huxley explore crucial questions of science, religion, and philosophy.

Aldous Leonard Huxley (1894–1963) was a British writer best known for his 1932 novel Brave New World, which portrays the dehumanizing aspects of scientific and technological progress. Born in Godalming, Surrey, England on July 26, Huxley's poor eyesight kept him from an early goal of becoming a scientist. After attending Oxford University and achieving fame as the author of several novels, in 1937 Huxley moved to California, where he became a screenwriter. Later he experimented with psychedelic drugs and incorporated mysticism into his work. Huxley died from throat cancer in Hollywood on November 22.

A moralist, social satirist, and interdisciplinary intellectual, in The Perennial Philosophy (1942) Huxley sought to identify the origin of being, prior to the fragmentation of experience into diverse languages, religions, and systems of knowledge. In the present...