The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning - Softcover

Lovelock, James

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0141039256 ISBN 13: 9780141039251

Publisher: Penguin, 2010

Synopsis

James Lovelock's The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning is a prophetic message for mankind from one of the most influential scientists of our age.

James Lovelock's Gaia theory, the idea that our planet is a living, self-regulating system, has transformed the way we see our planet and what is now happening to it.

In this book he distils a lifetime's wisdom and observation of the Earth to reveal the rate at which our climate is altering, how conventional 'green' measures are not working, and how life as we know it is going to change forever. Only Gaia, he shows, can help us fully understand this, and prepare us for the future.

'The most influential scientist and writer since Charles Darwin'
  Irish Times

'Supremely life-affirming ... The definitive statement of the Gaia theory and its implications for the future'
  John Gray, Literary Review

'Exhilarating ... Lovelock is the closest thing we have to an Old Testament prophet'
  John Carey, Sunday Times

'Gripping, convincing and indeed terrifying'
  Michael McCarthy, Independent

'Lovelock's writing has enormous warmth and vitality ... we need scientists such as him'
  Fiona Harvey, Financial Times

James Lovelock is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and the originator of the Gaia Hypothesis (now Gaia Theory). He has written three books on the subject: Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, The Ages of Gaia and Gaia: The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine, as well as an autobiography, Homage to Gaia. In September 2005 Prospect magazine named him as one of the world's top 100 global public intellectuals.

About this title

Review:

About Jim Lovelock


(Photo Credit: Sandy Lovelock)

Jim Lovelock is an iconic figure in British science, a prophet whose prophecies are coming true. Lovelock is best known as the 'father' of Gaia theory, which is now established as the most useful way of understanding the dramatic changes happening to the environment of the Earth. Yet, throughout his life - as a student, independent scientist and writer - Lovelock has met with disagreement and disparagement. His drive came from personal belief, curiosity and conviction. He has been right for all his working life and, although it is frightening for us to believe the scenario he describes in The Vanishing Face of Gaia, he is right again.

The Vanishing Face of Gaia is James Lovelock's final word on the terrifying environmental problems we will confront in the twenty-first century. The earth as we know it is vanishing. It is moving inexorably to a new, hot state. The idea that we can "save the planet" by reducing carbon emissions is, Lovelock writes, nothing but a sales pitch. The earth, as it always has done, will save itself. It is up to us to save the human race.

As he approaches his 90th birthday, James Lovelock looks forward to what he describes as "a hell of an upgrade", as Richard Branson is sending him into space with Virgin Galactic, so he can, for the first time, see the face of Gaia.

The Essential Jim Lovelock  Organic Chemistry Textbook of Practical Organic Chemistry Atkins' Physical Chemistry What is Life? The Art of Electronics Nonlinear Dynamics and Chaos Praise for Jim Lovelock

"James Lovelock is one of the greatest scientists of his own generation and has inspired further generations of scientists to see the world as a single system operating in feedback and behaving as a single living organism. His vision of the planet as Gaia and subsequent Gaia Theory are the bedrocks of modern environmental science and his work on the role of CFCs in the depletion of Ozone in the atmosphere was truly ground breaking. There could be no more fitting tribute to the father of Gaia Theory than to let him see Gaia's beauty from space, something he has dreamed of doing all of his life." 
-         Sir Richard Branson, 8 February 2009

"I feel I cannot possibly disagree with Lovelock, or with the overwhelming body of scientists who attest to the reality of climate change.If Lovelock is only half-right, then we must have an immediate programme to pastoralise the global economy and reduce emissions. The paradox is that he is completely right, there is not a lot we can do, and we might as well enjoy our beautiful planet while we can."

-         Daily Telegraph, Boris Johnson, 2 February 2006

"Generally, one tries not to boost books or writers who come on to programmes beyond the fact that they're there. James Lovelock, however, has to be an exception... Lovelock deserves to stir up a Galileo-sized political storm."

-         Daily Telegraph, Andrew Marr, 1 February 2006.

"He is the most important and original scientific thinker in the world today."

-         John Gray, Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics.

"Its conclusion can be best summed up in the words of Dad's Army's Private Frazer: 'We're doomed'."

-         The Tablet, Russell Sparks, 3 February 2007.

"Lovelock writes with the lovely naivety of the successful maverick"

-         The Sunday Times (Culture), February 28 2007.

"The Revenge of Gaia is a riveting and troubling work by a true 'scientific visionary'."

-         The Week, Saturday 4 February 2006.

"Lovelock has done his part by saying what nobody else dares."

-         Newsweek, William Underhill, 24 April 2006.

"His appetite for life remains gargantuan."

-         Saturday Guardian, Review, Andrew Brown, 31 December 2005.

"He is an unexpected ecological Jeremiah... The man who changed our thinking about the world and its living beings may also have profoundly altered the way it will fight the battle against environmental mayhem."

-         The Observer, Energy, Robin McKie, 11 October 2006.

"With Earth in the future looking set to become a dramatically different place, these are radical ideas that we may just have to accept."

-         BBC Focus, Jheni Osman, May 2006.

"Unlike science bores, Lovelock talks in the vivid lingo of the science-fictionalist."

-         The Week, Saturday, Jasper Gerard, 11 February 2006.

"He is not just scaremongering. He is reflecting the views of a growing body of climatologists."

-         The Times, Magnus Linklater, Wednesday 19 April 2006.

"Lovelock is a fascinating figure, and a scientist of long and impeccable degree."

-         FT Magazine, Fiona Harvey, January 28/29 2006.

"Lovelock is the most profound scientific thinker of our time, and - though I admit in the present climate this is not saying much - the greatest living Englishman."

-         Literary Review, Bryan Appleyard, Wednesday 1 March 2006.

"Lovelock"s vast learning, crisp and energetic writing, and original thinking mean that every disagreement is a prompt to become better informed and clearer thinking about climate change."

-         The Independent on Sunday, John Whitfield, 12 February 2006.

"Gaia is becoming as accepted as relativity."

-         ...

Review:

Los Angeles Times
“Lovelock is a plain and simple writer, and his prose has a natural grace that makes this book a pleasure to read despite its depressing thesis.”

Science
“[The Vanishing Face of Gaia] seems to arise from frustration that society hasn’t been roused by the wake-up call of [The Revenge of Gaia].... [It] has an elevated sense of urgency – stimulated in part by observations that anthropogenic influence and Earth’s response are accelerating at a pace that exceeds the projections of the latest Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change report.”

Leonardo Reviews (International Society for the Arts, Sciences and Technology)
“Almost everyone today has glimpsed the abyss of extinction, but few have gazed into it as unflinchingly as Lovelock.... [He] gathers the knowledge of a lifetime to transcend the bounds of scientific discourse and sound a warning about matters of the greatest urgency.”

The New York Review of Books
“[An] idiosyncratic book.... James Lovelock has told it as he sees it...and at ninety he has nothing to lose, while readers, however skeptical, have much to gain.”

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin
• Publication date: 2010
• ISBN 10: 0141039256
• ISBN 13: 9780141039251
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 208