James Lovelock
- Born
- 26 July 1919
Although born to parents who were firm believers in education, James Lovelock found himself unable to afford university studies once he had finished school. He completed two years of his chemistry course at the University of Manchester and was then unable to fund the third.
Lovelock took up a position at the Medical Research Council after a recommendation from his university professor before completing a PhD in medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
First working as a consultant for NASA and inventing many scientific instruments, most notably the electron capture detector, James Lovelock then developed a theory in the 1960s known as the Gaia Hypothesis. This set of principles outlined the idea that life is sustained on Earth by a regulatory effect of the biosphere and has been a subject for debate between the environmentalist and evolutionary biologist communities.
Life does more than adapt to the Earth. It changes the Earth to its own purposes.
The Gaia hypothesis states that Earth functions as a single organism that maintains the conditions for its own survival. Essentially, living things on the planet (the biosphere) can interact with the non-living surroundings and regulate the climate and atmospheric conditions so that they are optimal. This was very controversial; the public reaction was incredibly positive but it angered many scientists, some of whom said it was in direct contradiction of Darwinian Evolution. When it was first published for a general audience, Lovelock received 21 invitations to write a book on the Gaia theory.
Having received eight honorary doctorate degrees, Lovelock has also been awarded many prizes including the Rosenstiel Award in Oceanographic Science in 1990 and the Royal Geographic Society Discovery Lifetime Award in 2001.
His research and theories in areas of climate and environment led to the publication of several books and were made the subject of an exhibition at the Science Museum in London.
This profile was written by a Biology: Changing the World volunteer.