Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth
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- Author：James E. Lovelock
- ISBN：0198784880
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Summary
In this classic work that continues to inspire many readers， Jim Lovelock puts forward his idea that the Earth functions as a single organism。 Written for non-scientists， Gaia is a journey through time and space in search of evidence in support of a radically different model of our planet。 In
contrast to conventional belief that life is passive in the face of threats to its existence， the book explores the hypothesis that the Earth's living matter influences air， ocean， and rock to form a complex， self-regulating system that has the capacity to keep the Earth a fit place for life。
Since Gaia was first published， Jim Lovelock's hypothesis has become a hotly debated topic in scientific circles。 In a new Preface to this edition， he outlines his view of the present state of the debate。
Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas， and shaped the way we think。
contrast to conventional belief that life is passive in the face of threats to its existence， the book explores the hypothesis that the Earth's living matter influences air， ocean， and rock to form a complex， self-regulating system that has the capacity to keep the Earth a fit place for life。
Since Gaia was first published， Jim Lovelock's hypothesis has become a hotly debated topic in scientific circles。 In a new Preface to this edition， he outlines his view of the present state of the debate。
Oxford Landmark Science books are 'must-read' classics of modern science writing which have crystallized big ideas， and shaped the way we think。
Reviews
Cindy
，
I love the idea of Gaia being a self regulating cybernetic system。 I had trouble following the chemistry and the writing style at times。
Thomas Lønn Hammer
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Hoped it would be more philosophical / integral。 In some sense its a brilliant book， and I think that the level of analysis （planetary） is where we should be looking。 I don't think though， that 'organism' is quite the concept we are looking for， its a good analogy， but more philosophical work can be done to improve the conceptualization。 I agree that， from a holistic perspective， the planet， Earth， Gaia， is one integrated， self-regulated and self-sustained entity， but simply applying the term 'o Hoped it would be more philosophical / integral。 In some sense its a brilliant book， and I think that the level of analysis （planetary） is where we should be looking。 I don't think though， that 'organism' is quite the concept we are looking for， its a good analogy， but more philosophical work can be done to improve the conceptualization。 I agree that， from a holistic perspective， the planet， Earth， Gaia， is one integrated， self-regulated and self-sustained entity， but simply applying the term 'organism' doesn't sit right with me。 Maybe something in the Lovecraftian direction， thinking on cosmic scales， maybe in terms of not quite "hyperobject"， but not quite "hyperorganism" either。 I'm not sure。 Life as a spatio-temporally extended 4-dimensional entity， which has emergent levels of crystallization， a multifaceted being which is， in virtue of its interrelations， somehow fractal， holographical。。 How to distill all these aspects into one coherent synthesis I do not know。 As for the detailed analysis， its rather good and rather convincing。 Lovelock is a biologist so his gathering of various facts about how the planet self regulates， summarized， paints a picture of an entity that is unified and that operates in many respects as one。 Not sure what the precise way forward would be， but a lot of groundwork is laid down here for sure。 。。。more
Anomilie
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Interesting concept that is well presented。 Would be interested to read an updated version to see how research published over the last few decades would integrate with the hypothesis of gaia
Tolga KAYA
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“The multinational companies would not exist if we had not demanded their products and at a price that forces them to produce without enough care for the consequences。 In our blier that all thst matters is the good of humankind we foolishly forget how much we depend upon all the other living things on Earth。”
Pam Hurd
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Interesting read"In our belief that all that matters is the good of humankind we foolishly forget how much we depend upon all the other living things on Earth。"Of historical interest （1979） concerning the understanding of how our current thoughts on our planet and its future have evolved。 Interesting read"In our belief that all that matters is the good of humankind we foolishly forget how much we depend upon all the other living things on Earth。"Of historical interest （1979） concerning the understanding of how our current thoughts on our planet and its future have evolved。 。。。more
Geoffrey Liddell
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Kind of comforting to read if you worry about climate catastrophe。 I don't fancy giving it a number of stars， but it did have a huge effect on my outlook on life as a teenager and I think made me a more curious and hopeful person。 Probably influenced my career choice too！ Kind of comforting to read if you worry about climate catastrophe。 I don't fancy giving it a number of stars， but it did have a huge effect on my outlook on life as a teenager and I think made me a more curious and hopeful person。 Probably influenced my career choice too！ 。。。more
Peggy
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Wonderful refreshing readAt last a non-human-centred view of planet Earth， calmly and almost playfully realistically “optimistic”， in giving centre stage to the Whole， to the Planet， whatever her future， with or without humans
Cyrill
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I happened to stumble upon this book by accident。 I read about in a magazine。 The idea of the Earth as a kind of living organism - that sounds like an exciting idea。 Some chapters were thoroughly interesting。 There is a broad discussion of properties of biological systems on different levels of abstraction。 I'm studying Computer Science and I've found the chapter on 'Cybernetics' to be extraordinarily fascinating。 It's a shift of perspective， because that's not the type of book I normally read。 I happened to stumble upon this book by accident。 I read about in a magazine。 The idea of the Earth as a kind of living organism - that sounds like an exciting idea。 Some chapters were thoroughly interesting。 There is a broad discussion of properties of biological systems on different levels of abstraction。 I'm studying Computer Science and I've found the chapter on 'Cybernetics' to be extraordinarily fascinating。 It's a shift of perspective， because that's not the type of book I normally read。 However on some sections I've had trouble to follow。 Why？ Because this books assumes a certain proficiency in especially chemistry。 There is a long discussion of chemical properties of biological systems。 With my high school level understanding of chemistry， and sometimes I was not quite getting interested in these topics。 。。。more
Matara Scott
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read after my course on living systems which fit so well， slightly more scientific than my abilities allowed but glad I stuck with it and the world makes soooo much sense after reading
Lisanne Vaatstra
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A must read when you are an environmental scientist since the Gaia theory is the foundation of sustainability。
Hamad AlMannai
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Lovelock is the father of the Gaia theory and his writings are very influential。 What strikes me the most is how things have changed in the last twenty years shes how urgent the climate crisis has become。 Reading this book note with the benefit of hindsight was interesting。
Macy Cummings
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Didn't finish-- really just wanted to read the cybernetics chapter。 Didn't finish-- really just wanted to read the cybernetics chapter。 。。。more
Sam Allen
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A good introduction to， and the original progenitor of， Earth systems science。 Dated in places， but nonetheless an excellent introduction to the concept of the Earth， Gaia， as a giant self regulating superorganism。
Koit
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I first heard the name of James Lovelock in sixth or seventh grade where my nature studies teacher mentioned Gaia theory briefly。 I’ve known the name since but not investigated the man or the theory in more detail until now—and it turned out quite different to what I was expecting！Mr Lovelock’s investigation of the Earth in this book is far more a story of science， supported by facts， or at least the facts as they were known at the time of the writing in 1970’s。 It is clear that many of the fact I first heard the name of James Lovelock in sixth or seventh grade where my nature studies teacher mentioned Gaia theory briefly。 I’ve known the name since but not investigated the man or the theory in more detail until now—and it turned out quite different to what I was expecting！Mr Lovelock’s investigation of the Earth in this book is far more a story of science， supported by facts， or at least the facts as they were known at the time of the writing in 1970’s。 It is clear that many of the facts have been better understood since then， and indeed that seemed to be the partial motivation for the new edition， released still more than a decade ago。 The book’s emphasis， other than the broad term of ‘science’， can also be attributed to the history of the world。As such a history， this was a better narrative than any other I know about。 Many authors have tried to make a story of the development of life on Earth， and these ranks include people I read religiously （say Bryson）。 However， Mr Lovelock’s story was simple and straightforward， presented the events as much as we know them， and relied on the chemistry and physics of what was possible at that time。 In this narrative， the author’s comparisons and points of “a few percent more of oxygen and this would be the case…” both hearkened backwards and forwards in time to make comparisons with the past and present。Overall， that was what I enjoyed most about this book—the history of the Earth。 The other aspects， development of chemistry and life， and how this life helps to maintain a balance made for a compelling argument though modern scientific consensus seems to fall against the Gaia hypothesis。 Be that as it may， the author proves himself as a first-rate thinker。 Of course， even a cursory look at either the criticism or support of the theory leads one down the drain of innumerable philosophical concepts that don’t aid most readers。 It is easier， therefore， to not look for one’s religion （even if that religion is science） in this book and to walk away with a few new thoughts and memories。 This review was originally posted on my blog。 。。。more
Virginprune
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It's short， quirky， and far from perfect - that's why he's written so many follow-up books。 But this is really a book to get you thinking。It's taken me decades to get around to reading this book， and the main reason I'd not done so was the impression that this was somehow a New Age， pseudo-religious， guru-culty kind of work。 Nothing of the sort！！ This is the work of science; questioning， iconoclastic， thinking and prepared to be proved wrong。 Or slightly wrong。 Really， it's a small book。 Pick it It's short， quirky， and far from perfect - that's why he's written so many follow-up books。 But this is really a book to get you thinking。It's taken me decades to get around to reading this book， and the main reason I'd not done so was the impression that this was somehow a New Age， pseudo-religious， guru-culty kind of work。 Nothing of the sort！！ This is the work of science; questioning， iconoclastic， thinking and prepared to be proved wrong。 Or slightly wrong。 Really， it's a small book。 Pick it up。 The ideas are still fresh。 Make it part of your learning experience。 Whether or not you agree with the various hypotheses and interpretations here， the ride is worth it。 。。。more
Roy McCullough
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A provocative and fascinating examination of the intriguing hypothesis that the Earth might be governed by a mysterious and self-regulating cybernetic system。 As possible indications / evidence of such a system， the author points to the curiously perfect mix of gasses in our atmosphere， the curiously perfect and strangely stabilized salinity levels of our oceans， and a host of other interesting natural phenomena。 Along the way he levies some harsh criticism of the radical environmental movement A provocative and fascinating examination of the intriguing hypothesis that the Earth might be governed by a mysterious and self-regulating cybernetic system。 As possible indications / evidence of such a system， the author points to the curiously perfect mix of gasses in our atmosphere， the curiously perfect and strangely stabilized salinity levels of our oceans， and a host of other interesting natural phenomena。 Along the way he levies some harsh criticism of the radical environmental movement and the city-bound and close-minded scientists that never get out into nature to observe what is really happening。 I’m not convinced he proved his case but it is an interesting read and will certainly get you thinking。 。。。more
Chris Zhang
，
While there's much to be learned from the book in terms of biology， ecology， and environmental sciences， it is severely undersourced for the gravity of conclusions it attempts to make。The Gaia Hypothesis is novel and interesting concept solely in the fact that life and the earth likely have a symbiotic relationship as opposed to the one-sided model of life solely adapting to the changes in the earth。 An organic discourse with inorganic shifts and vice versa is very believable given life's intera While there's much to be learned from the book in terms of biology， ecology， and environmental sciences， it is severely undersourced for the gravity of conclusions it attempts to make。The Gaia Hypothesis is novel and interesting concept solely in the fact that life and the earth likely have a symbiotic relationship as opposed to the one-sided model of life solely adapting to the changes in the earth。 An organic discourse with inorganic shifts and vice versa is very believable given life's interactions with available resources and Lovelock cites some thought-provoking examples on the matter。While Lovelock maintains a mostly humble independent scientific tone I still can't help but feel that the work is missing the scientific rigor that would make it more rigid and believable - namely， in more references or deeper forays into discussions on the scientific evidences of his examples。 And small speculative bursts and fictions don't help this argument。I like the idea of the Gaia Hypothesis， but I don't think this book may have been the best carrier for the concept。 Gaia Hypothesis is perhaps better left away from a holistic vantage and instead viewed as a metaphor for the many delicate and unique systems of ecological interplay。 We can pay homage to the scope and ensuing research attributed to this hypothesis， but I remain unconvinced that this is a formulation of revolutionary weight。Nonetheless， it was a fairly easy read with some great learning points， so I can't complain too much。 。。。more
Joy
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at times it was difficult for me to understand， personally; however i do think it was enlightening and generally not too difficult to read。 i do hope i actually retained some of the information presented to me， but in the moment it was an enjoyable read and fairly insightful。
Chris May
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Difficult to rate， at times Gaia is glorious and thought provoking and at other times bogged down in scientific descriptions that are frankly a little dull and perhaps now disproved or out of date。 A long article would have sufficed。
Tony Sunderland
，
In the 1960s， scientist James Lovelock proposed the idea that the earth itself was a living organism; he called this proposition the Gaia hypothesis。 Lovelock argued that because the earth was a self-regulating organism， this represented evidence that it is， in a broad sense， a ‘living’ system， operating autonomously through a series of interacting bio-geo-chemical cycles from a planetary perspective。 However， this does not infer that the earth is either sentient or conscious。 Without resorting In the 1960s， scientist James Lovelock proposed the idea that the earth itself was a living organism; he called this proposition the Gaia hypothesis。 Lovelock argued that because the earth was a self-regulating organism， this represented evidence that it is， in a broad sense， a ‘living’ system， operating autonomously through a series of interacting bio-geo-chemical cycles from a planetary perspective。 However， this does not infer that the earth is either sentient or conscious。 Without resorting to notions of supernaturalism， Lovelock has given us another pathway to expressing not only our personal spiritual desires but also the possibility that as part of a greater living organism， our sense of spirituality may be entwined within a communal evolutionary journey towards the preservation of life。 As Lovelock declares:"Gaia theory does not contradict Darwinism， rather it extends it to include evolutionary biology and evolutionary geology as a single science。 In Gaia theory， organisms change their material environment as well as adapt to it。 Selection favours the improvers， and the expansion of favourable traits extends local improvement and can make it global。 Inevitably there will be extinctions and losers， winners may gain in the short term， but the only long-term beneficiary is life itself。" If our material world is indeed part of a greater living and evolving organism， then artificial intelligence – because it is a material creation – is also part of this greater living entity。 We participate directly in biological evolution and also as a component part of stellar evolution。 Lovelock concludes that we may be destined to merge with AI as part of an evolutionary drive within both humanity and the planet: “I think like all organisms on Earth our species has a limited lifespan。 If we can somehow merge with our electronic creations in a larger scale endosymbiosis， it may provide a better step in the evolution of humanity and Gaia。” If taken to its end point， our destiny may not only be to be able to design and create new universes， but also to travel within them。 Artificially evolved versions of ourselves may indeed transcend the confines of materiality and break away from our parent organism， the earth itself， and explore even larger self-regulating systems。 Lovelock's work has inspired a new generation of astrophysicists to envision brave new worlds， or should I say， universes。。。 - an excellent book！ 。。。more
Kyle Zollo
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A little clunky， a little outdated， but still a fun and thought provoking read。 The hardest part of this book to get over is Lovelock’s strange rationale and defense of the fossil fuel and CFC industry。 Sad to see this type of ecological thinker carry water for harm-causing industries。Read at your own risk。 A lot of stuff in this book are “from science”， or science-lite， or what some people may even call pseudo-science。
Eric
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A new teaching template for my ecology unit
Lee Prescott
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Desperately wanted this to be a 5 star book but the main message felt diluted by some baffling conclusions。
Diana
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I was afraid that this would be beyond my non-scientific mind。 It was totally accessible and beautifully written。 If you had forgotten about one area of our astonishing planet， Lovelock reminds you of it and its miracles。 An education and a feast for thought！
Joseph Hirsch
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Years ago I had a friend who really despised the modish posturing of the "Greens" and those whose environmentalists consisted mostly of gestures like reusable grocery bags or bumper stickers。 "Every time I use my lawnmower， they act like I'm making Gaia cry，" was his impolitic way of putting it。I think my friend would like this book， simply because the shorthand metonym of Gaia as Mother Earth does the theory of James Lovelock a disservice。 He certainly believes the Earth and its flora and fauna Years ago I had a friend who really despised the modish posturing of the "Greens" and those whose environmentalists consisted mostly of gestures like reusable grocery bags or bumper stickers。 "Every time I use my lawnmower， they act like I'm making Gaia cry，" was his impolitic way of putting it。I think my friend would like this book， simply because the shorthand metonym of Gaia as Mother Earth does the theory of James Lovelock a disservice。 He certainly believes the Earth and its flora and fauna deserve our stewardship， but also believes that the Big Girl is quite capable of taking care of herself， and has been proving it long before our arrival on the planet。 Dr。 Lovelock's theory is that the Earth has a system for regulating itself， consisting of a natural and fine-tuned negative feedback loop developed over the eons。 This cybernetic device for maintaining homeostasis doesn't imply literal sentience or consciousness on the part of Earth （aside from maybe at the pan-psychic level）。 It just implies that the process that makes life sustainable for us is a miraculous device of nature， and one we would do well to study， emulate， and preserve， and not to undermine。The book was initially published in the late 70s， and so its concerns reflect those of its time， global warming rather than climate change， and an unavoidable recency bias to the ideas of Rachel Carlson （she might have been totally correct， but later scientists have made some strong claims that ceasing to use certain pesticides has led to massive disease spread by insects that proliferate when insecticides are shunned）。It's all theoretical science， but that doesn't mean it's not rigorous or not serious。 And Lovelock has quite a bit more to offer here than bumper stickers and grocery tote bags。 Recommended。 。。。more
Orhan Pelinkovic
，
Gaia means Earth or the goddess of Earth。 In this book she is discussed through the Gaia hypothesis or her more formal science name; geophysiology。 Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth （1979） is written by James Lovelock who is an inventor， scientists and turned 101 years old this year （2020）！Gaia hypothesis is a complex and unique entity that treats all of the living organisms on Earth as a single being。 The Gaia hypothesis is an idea that suggests that it's the living organisms on Earth （us inclu Gaia means Earth or the goddess of Earth。 In this book she is discussed through the Gaia hypothesis or her more formal science name; geophysiology。 Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth （1979） is written by James Lovelock who is an inventor， scientists and turned 101 years old this year （2020）！Gaia hypothesis is a complex and unique entity that treats all of the living organisms on Earth as a single being。 The Gaia hypothesis is an idea that suggests that it's the living organisms on Earth （us included）， that regulate the inorganic surrounding， such as the atmosphere， mostly the troposphere， oceans and soil， in order to generate and maintain the conditions necessary for a habitable life on Earth。 All of this works as a continuous and complex self-regulating system。 Gaia is perhaps the largest single living creature on planet Earth。 I have to admit that this is an exceptionally intriguing idea， although I had a hard time accepting it to the extent it was presented。 The biosphere does effect， and in part shape， the surrounding atmosphere， but does the biosphere unconsciously adjust and tweak the atmosphere gases and temperature so we can comfortably live our lives？ I was thought that it was life that adapted to the conditions of the existing environment。The book is well-written and Lovelock is a fascinating scientists！ The chapters objectively elaborate with scientific argumentation the Gaian mechanism， but they lack a common thread and the book a stronger narrative。 All in all， I would highly recommend this book to the eco-conscious individuals or those interested in planetary science。（3。5/5。0） 。。。more
Terry
，
This book might be more interesting to a chemistry major than it was to me。 I got the concept right away， but I struggled through the details。 I gave it three stars for good intentions and I am moving on。
Helen Reilly
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interesting parts， more so in first half of book
Gonzalo Martínez
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Como químico interesado en cuestiones de geoquímica el libro me interesó mucho， está destinado a un público no-científico pero eso no le quita lo divulgativo que me encantó。
Dan Brady
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