The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth - Hardcover

Lovelock, James

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0192177702 ISBN 13: 9780192177704

Publisher: Oxford University Press, 1989

Synopsis

James Lovelock's "Gaia theory" showed that the Earth, its rocks, oceans and atmosphere and all living things are part of one great organism, evolving together over the vast span of geological time. He elaborates here the basis of a new and unified view of the Earth and life sciences, discussing recent scientific developments: the greenhouse effect, acid rain, the depletion of the ozone layer and the effects of ultraviolet radiation, the emission of CFCs and nuclear power. Using the imaginary planet Daisyworld as a model, he demonstrates the geophysical interaction of atmosphere, oceans, climate and the Earth's crust, regulated comfortably for life by living organisms using the energy of the sun. The Gaia theory is seen to force a planetary perspective and concentrates on the health of the planet, rather than individual species of organisms. This hypothesis raises philosophical and religious questions which Lovelock tackles in a chapter on "God and Gaia". James Lovelock has also written "Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth" and "The Greening of Mars".

About this title

Review:

This book describes a set of observations about the life of our planet which may, one day, be recognized as one of the major discontinuities in human thought. If Lovelock turns out to be as right in his view of things as I believe he is, we will be viewing the Earth as a coherent system of life, self-regulating and self-changing, a sort of immense living organism.--Lewis Thomas

From the Back Cover:

The Earth, James Lovelock proposes, behaves as if it were a superorganism, made up from all the living things and from their material environment. When he first sketched out his brilliant Gaia theory in the 1970s, people around the world embraced it; within a short time Gaia has moved from the margins of scientific research to the mainstream. James Lovelock argues that such things as the level of oxygen, the formation of clouds, and the saltiness of the oceans may all be controlled by interacting physical, chemical, and biological processes. He believes that "the self-regulation of climate and chemical composition is a process that emerges from the tightly coupled evolution of rocks, air, and ocean - in addition to that of organisms. Such interlocking self-regulation, while rarely optimal - consider the cold and hot places of the earth, the wet and the dry - nevertheless keeps the Earth a fit place for life". The New York Times Book Review has called his arguments in favor of Gaia "plausible and above all illuminating". Now, in an updated paperback edition, fully revised, the author amplifies his account of how Gaia works with descriptions of new fields of research that have been opened by this pathbreaking concept.

About this edition

• Publisher: Oxford University Press
• Publication date: 1989
• ISBN 10: 0192177702
• ISBN 13: 9780192177704
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 272