James Lovelock: Homage to Gaia - The Life Of An Independent Scientist

Oxford University Press

$69.95

Lovelock is the scientist who, in 1979, introduced us to the hypothesis that life and the material Earth evolved together as a single system - that not only do organisms evolve in response to their environment, but the atmosphere itself is altered or manipulated by the organisms living on the surface.

He proposed a feedback or cybernetic system which seeks an optimal physical and chemical environment for life on this planet - a system which, at the suggestion of his friend, the novelist William Golding, Lovelock named Gaia.

It was a holistic approach to understanding life on our planet, and it has proved deeply controversial.

Here Lovelock, now 81, tells his own life story, of which the development of Gaia is but one aspect. He has practised science as one might practise an art: independently, usually alone and out of the clutches of universities and institutions, and his achievements are today widely recognised by the scientific community.

In these pages one feels the excitement of scientific investigation, but also the warmth of the man.

Musing on his age, and on the Gaia concept, this thoughtful atheist says: "It is comforting to think that I am a part of her, and to know that my destiny is to merge with the chemistry of our living planet."

Accompanying the autobiography are reissues by OUP of Lovelock's books, Gaia: A New Look At Life On Earth, and The Ages Of Gaia, both costing $28.95.