James Lovelock at a Science Museum exhibition about himself (Nick Ansell/PA)
(Picture: PA Archive)Leading environmental scientist and creator of the Gaia hypothesis James Lovelock has died on his 103rd birthday.
The climate scientist died at home on Tuesday surrounded by loved ones, his family said. The world-renowned scientist had been in good health until six months ago when he had a bad fall.
His family said: “Our beloved James Lovelock died yesterday in his home surrounded by his family on his 103rd birthday. To the world he was best known as a scientific pioneer, climate prophet and conceiver of the Gaia theory. To us he was a loving husband and wonderful father with a boundless sense of curiosity, a mischievous sense of humour and a passion for nature.
“Up until six months ago he was still able to walk along the coast near his home in Dorset and take part in interviews, but his health deteriorated after a bad fall earlier this year. He passed away at 9.55pm of complications related to the fall. The funeral will be private. There will be a public memorial service later. The family requests privacy at this time.”
Mr Lovelock was best known for his Gaia hypothesis which posits that the Earth acts as a self-regulating organism made up of all its life forms, which humans are severely damaging. He said two years ago that the biosphere was in the last 1% of its life.
Known as a maverick, Lovelock dispensed predictions from his one-man laboratory since the mid-1960s, and in his old age he continued to work.
Here’s everything you need to know about James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis.
What is James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis?
James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis is named after the ancient Greek goddess of Earth, and it posits that Earth and its biological systems behave as a huge single entity.
The theory was first conceived in the 1970s by Lovelock and the biologist Lynn Margulis.
The Earth’s entity has a closely-controlled self-regulatory negative feedback loop, that keeps the conditions on the planet within boundaries that are favourable to supporting life.
The Lovelock hypothesis offers a new way to look at global ecology, which differs from the classical picture stating that ecology is a biological response to a list of physical conditions.
The idea that biology and the physical environment co-evolve and influence one another was first suggested as early as the mid-1700s, however, the link was never made as clearly as with Gaia, which states that biology controls the non-living environment, too.
What are the main observations underpinning the Gaia hypothesis?
The Gaia hypothesis states that the Earth’s surface is maintained in a habitable state by self-regulating feedback mechanisms involving organisms that are closely related and tightly coupled to their environment.
The concept is based on several observations:
- The atmosphere is in extreme thermodynamic disequilibrium owing to the activities of life, yet aspects of its composition are remarkably stable.
- Present conditions at the surface of the Earth are close to optimal for dominant organisms.
- Life has persisted for over 3.8 billion years despite increasing solar luminosity.
- The Earth system has repeatedly recovered from massive perturbations.
Who was James Lovelock?
Lovelock was born in 1919 in Letchworth Garden City, Herefordshire, and studied chemistry, medicine and biophysics in the UK and the US.
He worked at the Medical Research Council, and then in the 1960s on Nasa’s moon and Mars programmes at the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in Pasadena, California.
Throughout his career, he was a leading voice on climate change, as well as an inventor whose creations included a highly sensitive electron capture detector that tracks pollutants including ozone-depleting CFCs (chlorofluorocarbons).
Dame Mary Archer, chair of the Science Museum Group’s board of trustees, said: “Arguably the most important independent scientist of the last century, Jim Lovelock was decades ahead of his time in thinking about the Earth and climate and his unique approach was an inspiration for many.
“Originality of thought, scepticism of the status quo and above all a focus on invention lie at the heart of his remarkable contribution to science.”
Roger Highfield, science director at the museum, said: “Jim was a non-conformist who had a unique vantage point that came from being, as he put it, half scientist and half inventor.
“Endless ideas bubbled forth from this synergy between making and thinking.
“Although he is most associated with Gaia, he did an extraordinary range of research, from freezing hamsters to detecting life on Mars, popularised his ideas in many books, and he was more than happy to bristle a few feathers, whether by articulating his dislike of consensus views, formal education and committees, or by voicing his enthusiastic support for nuclear power.”
