Gaia: A New Look at Life on EarthIn 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. |
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LibraryThing Review
Recenzja użytkownika - RajivC - LibraryThingOverall, 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 ... Przeczytaj pełną recenzję
LibraryThing Review
Recenzja użytkownika - pansociety - LibraryThingThis 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. Przeczytaj pełną recenzję
Spis treści
1 Introductory | 1 |
2 In the beginning | 12 |
3 The recognition of Gaia | 30 |
4 Cybernetics | 44 |
5 The contemporary atmosphere | 59 |
6 The sea | 78 |
the problem of pollution | 100 |
8 Living within Gaia | 115 |
9 Epilogue | 133 |
Definitions and explanations of terms | 143 |
147 | |