Howard Families

Methuselah's Children

First edition cover
Author	Robert A. Heinlein
Country	United States
Language	English
Series	Future History
Genre	Science fiction
Publisher	Gnome Press
Publication date	1958
Media type	Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages	188
ISBN
Preceded by	"Misfit"
Followed by	Orphans of the Sky

Methuselah's Children is a science fiction novel by American writer Robert A. Heinlein, originally serialized in Astounding Science Fiction in the July, August, and September 1941 issues. It was expanded into a full-length novel in 1958.

The novel is usually considered to be part of Heinlein's Future History series of stories. It introduces the Howard Families, a fictional group of people who achieved long lifespans through selective breeding. The space ship in this novel, the New Frontiers, is described in the Future History timeline as a second generation ship, following the Vanguard, the vehicle for Heinlein's paired novellas "Universe" and "Common Sense".

According to John W. Campbell, the novel was originally to be called While the Evil Days Come Not. This provisional title stems from a quotation from Ecclesiastes that was used as a password on the second page of the story.

Starting off a grocer, Ira Howard became rich as a sutler wholesaler during the American War of the Secession, but died of old age at 48 or 49 years old. The trustees of his will carried out his wishes to prolong human life, by financially encouraging those with long-lived grandparents to marry each other and have children. By the 22nd century the "Howard families" have a life expectancy exceeding 150 years and keep their existence secret with the "Masquerade", in which the members fake their deaths and obtain new identities. The Masquerade helped the Families survive the dictatorship of Nehemiah Scudder, but as an experiment some Howard members reveal themselves to The Covenant, hoping that the free society established after Scudder's defeat will be friendly. They are mistaken; others refuse to believe that the Families obtained their lifespan by selective breeding, instead insisting they have developed a secret method to extend life. Administrator Slayton Ford, leader of Earth, believes that the Families are telling the truth, but cannot prevent efforts to force Howard members to reveal their alleged rejuvenatory abilities.