Gaia : a new look at life on earth

by James Lovelock

Paper Book, 2000

Status

Available

Call number

577

Publication

Oxford ; New York : Oxford University Press, 2000.

Description

In this classic work that continues to inspire its many readers, Jim Lovelock puts forward his idea that life on earth functions as a single organism. Written for non-scientists, Gaia is a journey through time and space in search of evidence with which to support a new and radically differentmodel of our planet. In contrast to conventional belief that living matter is passive in the face of threats to its existence, the book explores the hypothesis that the earth's living matter air, ocean, and land surfaces forms a complex system that has the capacity to keep the Earth a fit place forlife.Since Gaia was first published, many of Jim Lovelock's predictions have come true and his theory has become a hotly argued topic in scientific circles. In a new Preface to this reissued title, he outlines his present state of the debate.… (more)

User reviews

LibraryThing member pansociety
This increasingly influential book advocates a view of the Earth as a single, self-regulating organism, with the non-living environment being described as intimately related to and even regulated by the living biosophere.
LibraryThing member RajivC
Overall, this is an incredible book. I like the way James Lovelock took us through the concept of Gaia and how the world operates as an integrated system.
This fact still eludes many of us, and it is tragic.
The book is also a timely warning to those who wish to play God.
However, there seems to be
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misplaced optimism in the book, that the world will always repair itself. This, I believe, is a weakness.
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Language

Original publication date

1979

Physical description

xix, 148 p.; 20 cm

ISBN

0192862189 / 9780192862181
Page: 0.7159 seconds