James LOVELOCK


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an outstanding scientist

pioneer in the development of environmental awareness

Short biography

James Lovelock : independent scientist, environmentalist, author and researcher, Doctor Honoris Causa of several universities throughout the world, he is considered since several decades as a one of the main ideological leaders, if not the main one, in the history of the development of environmental awareness. James Lovelock is still today one of the main authors in the environmental field. He is the author of " The GaiaTheory ", and " The Ages of Gaia ", which consider the planet Earth as a self-regulated living being, as well as his "Homage to GAIA", an autobiography published in september 2000. More recently, professor Lovelock published his new book, " The Revenge of Gaia ".

James Lovelock is in favor of the use of clean nuclear energy, respectful of the environment : read the introduction of James Lovelock to the book "Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy". He supports the Association of Environmentalists For Nuclear Energy (EFN).

For more information on James Lovelock's fascinating life as an independent scientist & environmentalist, you may click here or read his autobiography "Homage to GAIA".

 

 

James LOVELOCK's books :

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176 pages

Basic Books, 2006 (July 3)

ISBN: 0465 04168X

Available at http://www.amazon.com/

The Revenge of GAIA:

Why the Earth Is Fighting Back - and How We Can still Save Humanity

The book argues that human society, through greenhouse gas emissions and other forms of environmental degradation, has brought the natural world to the brink of a crisis.

Temperatures will rise, Professor Lovelock warns, reliable supplies of water will be disrupted, life in the oceans will be compromised, food production will decline, and there will be mass migrations to areas of the planet's surface which remain habitable.

With fossil fuels currently the dominant source of energy, he sees a large-scale switch to nuclear power as vital if electricity supplies are to continue reliably and carbon dioxide emissions are to be brought down.

 

July 4 and 5, 2006. The BBC has convened an expert panel to examine issues raised in James Lovelock's latest book, The Revenge of Gaia.

Professor Lovelock intends The Revenge of Gaia to be a "wake-up call" to spread awareness that "the Earth is truly in danger".

305 pages

W.W. Norton, New York, 1988

Available at www.amazon.com

The Ages of GAIA

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, and 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 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 rightly coupled evolution of rocks, air and the 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 place fit for life." The New York Times Book Review has called his arguments in favor of Gaia "plausible and above all illuminating."

New fields of research have been opened by this pathbreaking concept. Lovelock adds : "if we see the world as a superorganism of which we are a part - not the owner, nor the tenant, not even a passenger - we could have a long time ahead of us and our species might survive for its "alloted span". It all depends on you and me."

 

 

185 pages

Oxford University Press, Oxford,1979

Available at www.amazon.com

GAIA - A New Look at Life on Earth

In his classic work that continues to inspire its many readers, James Lovelock puts forward his idea that the Earth functions as if it were a living 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 different model of our planet. In contrast to the conventional belief that living matter is passive in the face of threats to its existence, the book explores the theory that the Earth's living matter - air, ocean, and land surfaces - forms a complex system which has the capacity to keep Earth a place fit for life.

Since GAIA was first published, many of James Lovelock's predictions have come true and his theory has become a hotly argued topic in scientific circles.

___________

"Lovelock writes beautifully. A book that is both original and well written is indeed a bonus. Only a genius thinks of the obvious, and Lovelock deserves to be described as a genius."

New Scientist.

"One of my all time favorites. The breath-taking sweep of his central idea - that the Earth is a living, self-regulating organism - poses the most dramatic challenge to scientists, politicians, and the environmentalists".

Jonathan Porritt

"The exciting and personal argument of an original thinker caught up in wonder. It wins and repays attention."

Scientific American.

 

 

 

Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2000

Available at www.amazon.com

Homage to GAIA - The Life of an Independent Scientist

Lovelock's autobiography.

_______________

"He is to science what Gandhi was to politics. And his central notion, that the planet behaves as a living organism, is as radical, profound, and far-reaching in its impact as any of Gandhi's ideas."

New scientist.

"His Gaia hypothesis' is certainly heroic, with all the illusion-busting potential of Galileo's or Einstein's theories."

The Independant.

 

 

 

 

Other books by James Lovelock :

- GAIA: The Practical Guide to Planetary Medicine, Gaia Books, London, 1991.

 

Books coauthored with Michael Allaby :

- The Great Extinction, Doubleday & Co, New York, 1983.

- The Greening of Mars, André Deutsch Ltd, London, 1984.

 


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