Download or read book Scientists Debate Gaia written by Stephen Henry Schneider and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 2004 with total page 412 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Leading scientists bring the controversy over Gaia up to date by exploring a broad range of recent thinking on Gaia theory.
Download or read book Scientists on Gaia written by Stephen Henry Schneider and published by Cambridge, Mass. : MIT Press. This book was released on 1991 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Scientists on Gaia is a multidisciplinary exploration of the controversial Gaia hypothesis which was first phrased by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the early 1970s. Forty-four contributions detail the philosophical, empirical, and theoretical foundations of Gaia, mechanisms through which planetwide homeostasis could occur, applicability of the hypothesis to planets other than Earth, possible destabilization by outside forces and public policy implications.
Download or read book Gaia written by J. E. Lovelock and published by Oxford Paperbacks. This book was released on 2000-09-28 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This classic work is reissued with a new preface by the author. Written for non-scientists the idea is put forward that life on Earth functions as a single organism.
Download or read book On Gaia written by Toby Tyrrell and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2013-07-21 with total page 325 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A critical examination of James Lovelock's controversial Gaia hypothesis One of the enduring questions about our planet is how it has remained continuously habitable over vast stretches of geological time despite the fact that its atmosphere and climate are potentially unstable. James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis posits that life itself has intervened in the regulation of the planetary environment in order to keep it stable and favorable for life. First proposed in the 1970s, Lovelock's hypothesis remains highly controversial and continues to provoke fierce debate. On Gaia undertakes the first in-depth investigation of the arguments put forward by Lovelock and others—and concludes that the evidence doesn't stack up in support of Gaia. Toby Tyrrell draws on the latest findings in fields as diverse as climate science, oceanography, atmospheric science, geology, ecology, and evolutionary biology. He takes readers to obscure corners of the natural world, from southern Africa where ancient rocks reveal that icebergs were once present near the equator, to mimics of cleaner fish on Indonesian reefs, to blind fish deep in Mexican caves. Tyrrell weaves these and many other intriguing observations into a comprehensive analysis of the major assertions and lines of argument underpinning Gaia, and finds that it is not a credible picture of how life and Earth interact. On Gaia reflects on the scientific evidence indicating that life and environment mutually affect each other, and proposes that feedbacks on Earth do not provide robust protection against the environment becoming uninhabitable—or against poor stewardship by us.
Download or read book Gaia written by James Lovelock and published by Oxford University Press. This book was released on 2016 with total page 169 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Gaia, in which James Lovelock puts forward his inspirational and controversial idea that the Earth functions as a single organism, with life influencing planetary processes to form a self-regulating system aiding its own survival, is now a classic work that continues to provoke heated scientific debate.
Download or read book The Gaia Hypothesis written by Michael Ruse and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2013-09-25 with total page 267 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: “The book is full of empathetic, insightful, and often very funny portraits of Margulis, Lovelock, and a community of other figures associated with Gaia.” —Carla Nappi, New Books in Science, Technology, and Society In 1965 English scientist James Lovelock had a flash of insight: the Earth is not just teeming with life; the Earth, in some sense, is life. He mulled this revolutionary idea over for several years, first with his close friend the novelist William Golding, and then in an extensive collaboration with the American scientist Lynn Margulis. In the early 1970s, he finally went public with the Gaia hypothesis, the idea that everything happens for an end: the good of planet Earth. Lovelock and Margulis were scorned by professional scientists, but the general public enthusiastically embraced Lovelock and his hypothesis. In The Gaia Hypothesis, philosopher Michael Ruse, with his characteristic clarity and wit, uses Gaia and its history, its supporters and detractors, to illuminate the nature of science itself. Gaia emerged in the 1960s, a decade when authority was questioned and status and dignity stood for nothing, but its story is much older. Ruse traces Gaia’s connection to Plato and a long history of goal-directed and holistic—or organicist—thinking and explains why Lovelock and Margulis’s peers rejected it as pseudoscience. But Ruse also shows why the project was a success. He argues that Lovelock and Margulis should be commended for giving philosophy firm scientific basis and for provoking important scientific discussion about the world as a whole, its homeostasis or—in this age of global environmental uncertainty—its lack thereof. “[Ruse’s] treatment is thought-provoking and original, as you would expect from this perceptive, irrepressible philosopher of biology.” —New Scientist
Download or read book Animate Earth written by Stephan Harding and published by Bloomsbury Publishing. This book was released on 2009-03-05 with total page 405 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An exciting exploration into how Gaian science can help us to develop a sense of connectedness with the 'more-than-human' world. Written by ecologist Stephan Harding, Animate Earth argues that we need to establish the right relationship with the planet as a living entity in which we are indissolubly embedded - and to which we are all accountable. Now in its second edition, this fascinating book includes a new chapter on fungi, contemplative exercises and an update on the global climate situation. Stephan's work is based on careful integration of rational scientific analysis with our intuition, sensing and feeling - a vitally important task at this time of severe ecological and climate crisis. He replaces the cold, objectifying language of science with a way of speaking of our planet as a sentient, living being rather than as a dead, inert mechanism. Chemical reactions, for instance, are described using human metaphors, such as marriage, to bring personality back into the world of rocks, atmosphere, water and living things. In this sense, the book is a contemporary attempt to rediscover anima mundi (the soul of the world) through Gaian science, whilst assuming no prior knowledge of science. Discover what it means to live as harmoniously as possible within a sentient creature of planetary proportions with this inspiring read.
Download or read book From Gaia to Selfish Genes written by Connie Barlow and published by MIT Press. This book was released on 1992-07-08 with total page 294 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: From Gaia to Selfish Genes is a different kind of anthology. Lively excerpts from the popular writings of leading theorists in the life sciences blend in a seamless presentation of the controversies and bold ideas driving contemporary biological research. Selections span scales from the biosphere to the cell and DNA, and disciplines from global ecology to behavior and genetics, and also reveals the links between biology and philosophy. They plunge the reader into debates about heredity and environment, competition and cooperation, randomness and determinism, and the meaning of individuality. From Gaia to Selfish Genes conveys the technical and conceptual roots of current scientific theories beginning with the planetary perspective of James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis and concluding with the reductionist views of Richard Dawkins and E. 0. Wilson. The contrasting worldviews, coupled with excerpts drawn from critics of each theory, encourage readers to examine their own presuppositions. In addition to the scientists' portrayal of the Gaia hypothesis, symbiosis in cell evolution, hierarchy theory, systems theory, game theory, sociobiology, and the selfish gene, the text is rich in autobiographical passages and biographies. By presenting the human side of research, From Gaia to Selfish Genes reveals the social context and interactions, the motivations and range of cognitive styles that comprise the scientific endeavor. Concluding essays written expressly for this book by Lynn Margulis, John Maynard Smith, W. Ford Doolittle, and others underscore the importance of such diversity. Connie Barlow is a science writer currently living in New York City. The scientists include: Robert Axelrod. Richard D. Alexander. Ludwig von Bertalanffy. Leo W. Buss. Francis Crick. Richard Dawkins. W. Ford Doolittle. Douglas Hofstadter. Julian Huxley. Leon J. Kamin. Philip Kitcher. Richard C. Lewontin. James Lovelock. Lynn Margulis. Ashley Montagu. Leslie Orgel. Steven Rose. Carmen Sapienza. John Maynard Smith. Lewis Thomas. Gerald Weinberg. E. 0. Wilson. Robert Wright. The science writers include: Lawrence Joseph. Arthur Koestler. Francesca Lyman. Jeanne McDermott. Richard Monastersky. Dorion Sagan.
Download or read book Gaia Warriors written by Nicola Davies and published by Candlewick Press. This book was released on 2011 with total page 193 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examines the causes and effects of global warming and offers opinions from leading scientists about what can be done to help the Earth.
Download or read book Homage to Gaia written by James Lovelock and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2001 with total page 474 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: One of today's most influential environmentalists tells the fascinating storyof his life as a self-made inventor and scientist.
Download or read book Gaia s Body written by Tyler Volk and published by Springer Science & Business Media. This book was released on 2012-12-06 with total page 277 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: If the biosphere really is a single coherent system, then it must have something like a physiology. It must have systems and processes that perform living functions. In Gaia's Body, Tyler Volk describes the environment that enables the biosphere to exist, various ways of looking at its "anatomy" and "physiology", the major biogeographical regions such as rainforests, deserts, and tundra, the major substances the biosphere is made of, and the chemical cycles that keep it in balance. He then looks at the question of whether there are any long-term trends in the earth's evolution, and examines the role of humanity in Gaia's past and future. Both adherents and sceptics have often been concerned that Gaia theory contains too much goddess and too few verifiable hypotheses. This is the book that describes, for scientists, students, and lay readers alike, the theory's firm basis in science.
Download or read book The Vanishing Face of Gaia written by James Lovelock and published by Penguin UK. This book was released on 2009-02-26 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Lovelock described his previous book, The Revenge of Gaia, as 'a wake-up call for humanity'. Stark though it was in many respects, in The Vanishing Face of Gaia Lovelock says that even though the weather seems cooler and pollution lessens as the recession bites, the environmental problems we will face in the twenty-first century are even more terrifying than he previously realised. The Arctic and Antarctic ice-caps are melting very quickly, and water shortages and natural disasters are more common occurrences than at any time in recent history. The civilisations of many countries will be jeopardised and life as we know it severely disrupted. Almost all predictions of the likely rate of climate change have been based on estimates which professional observers in the real worldnow show are consistently underestimating the true rate of change. As a global community we continue to be fixated by conventional 'green' ideas which we believe will help save our world. Lovelock argues that only Gaia theory, which he originated over forty years ago, can really help us understand the crisis fully. The root problem is that there are too many people and animals for the Earth to carry. And there is in fact only one possible procedure which might bring a permanent cure for climate change, but we are unlikely to adopt it. 'Our wish to continue business as usual will probably prevent us from saving ourselves' says Lovelock, so we must adapt as best we can and try to ensure that enough of us survive to allow a more capable species to evolve from us. There could hardly be a more important message for humankind. James Lovelock has been an active and accurate observer of the Earth environment since the 1960s and was the first to find CFCs and other gases accumulating in the air. His Gaia theory provides insight into climate change in the coming century.This is his final warning.
Download or read book The Revenge of Gaia written by James Lovelock and published by Basic Books. This book was released on 2007-08-02 with total page 208 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The key insight of Gaia Theory is that the entire Earth functions as a single living super-organism. But according to James Lovelock, the theory's originator, that organism is now sick. It is running a fever born of increased atmospheric greenhouse gases. Earth will adjust to these stresses, but the human race faces a severe test. It is already too late, Lovelock says, to prevent the global climate from “flipping” into an entirely new equilibrium that will threaten civilization as we know it. But we can do much to save humanity. In the tradition of Silent Spring, this is a call to address a major threat to our collective future.
Download or read book Gaia Alchemy written by Stephan Harding and published by Simon and Schuster. This book was released on 2021-12-21 with total page 453 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: • Examines how integrating important alchemical images with Gaian science can offer insights into our interconnectedness with Gaia • Looks at how the four components of the living earth--biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere--mesh with the four elements of alchemical theory and the four functions of consciousness as understood by depth psychology • Offers guided meditations and contemplative exercises to open your receptivity to messages from the biosphere and help you connect more deeply with Gaia During the scientific revolution, science and soul were drastically separated, propelling humanity into four centuries of scientific exploration based solely on empiricism and rationality. But, as scientist and ecologist Stephan Harding, Ph.D., demonstrates in detail, by reintegrating science with profound personal experiences of psyche and soul, we can reclaim our lost sacred wholeness and help heal ourselves and our planet. The book begins with compelling introductions to depth psychology, alchemy, and Gaia theory--the science of seeing the Earth as an intelligent, self-regulating system, a theory pioneered by the author’s mentor James Lovelock. Harding then explores how alchemy, as understood through the depth psychology of C. G. Jung, offers us powerful methods of reuniting rationality and intuition, science and soul. He examines the integration of important alchemical engravings, including those from L’Azoth des Philosophes and the Rosarium Philosophorum, with Gaian science. He shows how the seven key alchemical operations in the Azoth image can help us develop deeply transformative experiences and insights into our interconnectedness with Gaia. He then looks at how the four components of the living Earth--biosphere, atmosphere, hydrosphere, and lithosphere--mesh not only with the four elements of alchemical theory but also with the four functions of consciousness from depth psychology. Woven throughout with the author’s own experiences of Gaia alchemy, the book also offers guided meditations and contemplative exercises to open your receptivity to messages from the biosphere and help you develop your own Gaian alchemical way of life, full of wonder and healing.
Download or read book Gaia written by J. E. Lovelock and published by Oxford University Press, USA. This book was released on 2000 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: James Lovelock is a world-renowned scientist whose research on chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the environment has generated a controversial theory about the Earth as a live, self-regulating organism. In his latest volume on the subject, Lovelock examines the health and future prospects of our ailing planet. 125 illustrations.
Download or read book Facing Gaia written by Bruno Latour and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2017-09-05 with total page 300 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The emergence of modern sciences in the seventeenth century profoundly renewed our understanding of nature. For the last three centuries new ideas of nature have been continually developed by theology, politics, economics, and science, especially the sciences of the material world. The situation is even more unstable today, now that we have entered an ecological mutation of unprecedented scale. Some call it the Anthropocene, but it is best described as a new climatic regime. And a new regime it certainly is, since the many unexpected connections between human activity and the natural world oblige every one of us to reopen the earlier notions of nature and redistribute what had been packed inside. So the question now arises: what will replace the old ways of looking at nature? This book explores a potential candidate proposed by James Lovelock when he chose the name 'Gaia' for the fragile, complex system through which living phenomena modify the Earth. The fact that he was immediately misunderstood proves simply that his readers have tried to fit this new notion into an older frame, transforming Gaia into a single organism, a kind of giant thermostat, some sort of New Age goddess, or even divine Providence. In this series of lectures on 'natural religion,' Bruno Latour argues that the complex and ambiguous figure of Gaia offers, on the contrary, an ideal way to disentangle the ethical, political, theological, and scientific aspects of the now obsolete notion of nature. He lays the groundwork for a future collaboration among scientists, theologians, activists, and artists as they, and we, begin to adjust to the new climatic regime.
Download or read book Scientists on Gaia written by Stephen H. Schneider and published by MIT Press (MA). This book was released on 1993-01 with total page 433 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A multidisciplinary exploration of the controversial hypothesis that life is an active participant in shaping the physical and chemical environment on which it depends, a theory first introduced by James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis in the early 1970s.
