In 1972, when James Lovelock first proposed the Gaia hypothesis--the
idea that the Earth is a living organism that maintains conditions
suitable for life--he was ridiculed by the scientific establishment.
Today Lovelock's revolutionary insight, though still extremely
controversial, is recognized as one of the most creative, provocative,
and captivating scientific ideas of our time. James Lovelock tells for
the first time the whole story of this maverick scientist's life and how
it served as a unique preparation for the idea of Gaia.
Drawing on in-depth interviews with Lovelock himself and unprecedented
access to his private papers, John and Mary Gribbin paint an intimate
and fascinating portrait of a restless, uniquely gifted freethinker. In
a lifetime spanning almost a century, Lovelock has followed a career
path that led him from chemistry, to medicine, to engineering, to space
science. He worked for the British secret service and contributed to the
success of the D-Day landings in World War II. He was a medical
experimenter and an accomplished inventor. And he was working with NASA
on methods for finding possible life on Mars when he struck upon the
idea of Gaia, conceiving of the Earth as a vast, living, self-regulating
system.
Deftly framed within the context of today's mounting global-warming
crisis, James Lovelock traces the intertwining trajectories of
Lovelock's life and the famous idea it brought forth, which continues to
provoke passionate debate about the nature and future of life on our
planet.
