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Aldous Leonard Huxley was born on July 26, 1894 in Surrey, England. He was born to a very scholarly family, most notably his grandfather T.H. Huxley, a well-known biologist who led the battles against the Darwinian Revolution. Aldous upbringing was shaped by many diverse influences, from his brother Julian, a notable biologist, to his mother’s uncle Matthew Arnold, a well-known English poet and literary critic. This mix of disciplines led to Huxley’s different interests, which ranged from anthropology to zoology and from literature to mysticism. These interests eventually drove Huxley into a pursuit of a medical career as a student at Eton. When he was fourteen he lost his mother to cancer, but it did not keep him down; he managed to continue his studies. Soon after, he chose this as his life profession, Huxley was hit with keratitis, an eye disease, and went nearly blind, forcing him to rethink his goals. Eventually Huxley would return to school at Balliol College at Oxford to study English Literature and Philology. It was at Oxford were Huxley met his lifelong friend, D.H. Lawrence.