  The times of maximum brightness collected in the GEOS RR Lyr database allowed
us to trace the period variations of a sample of 123 galactic RRab variables.
These data span a time baseline exceeding 100 years. Clear evidence of period
increases or decreases at constant rates has been found, suggesting
evolutionary effects. The observed rates are slightly larger than those
predicted by theoretical models; moreover, there is an unexpected large
percentage of RRab stars showing a period decrease. The new possibilities
offered by the use of robotic telecopes (TAROTs, REM) and of data from
satellite (CoRoT) are expected to speed up the project to measure stellar
evolution in real time. It is noteworthy that the outlines of this project have
been sketched during several GEOS meetings, where the different knowledge of
amateur and professional astronomers found a very profitable synthesis.
