James Lovelock
\n
James Ephraim Lovelock (born
July 26,
1919) is an independent scientist, author, researcher and environmentalist who lives in
Cornwall, in the west of
England. He is most famous for proposing and popularizing the
Gaia hypothesis, in which he postulates that the Earth functions as a kind of
superorganism (term coined by
Lynn Margulis).
Life history
Lovelock was born in Letchworth Garden City. He studied chemistry at Manchester University before taking up a Medical Research Council post at the Institute for Medical Research in London.
In 1948 he received a Ph.D in medicine at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine. Within the United States he has taught at Yale, Baylor University College of Medicine, and Harvard University.
Professional career
A lifelong inventor, some of his inventions were adopted by NASA in their program of planetary exploration. It was while working for NASA that Lovelock developed the Gaia Hypothesis.
Lovelock is currently president of the Marine Biological Association, was elected a FRS in 1974, and in 1990 was awarded the first Amsterdam Prize for the Environment by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. An independent scientist, inventor, and author, Lovelock works out of a barn-turned-laboratory in Cornwall.
Lovelock was among the first researchers to sound the alarm about the threat from the greenhouse effect.\nHis opinion is that "Only nuclear power can now halt global warming "
Books
\n* Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth (1979, 3rd ed. 2000) Oxford University Press. ISBN 0192862189\n* Ages of Gaia (1988, revised ed. 1995) Oxford University Press ISBN 0393312399\n* Gaia: The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine Gaia Books (1991 ed.) Oxford University Press (2001 ed.) ISBN 0195216741\n* Homage to Gaia: The Life of an Independent Scientist Oxford University Press (2000) ISBN 0198604297 (Lovelock's autobiography).ggsg
External links
\n* James Lovelock home page\n* "Nuclear power is the only green solution": Lovelock article published in the 'Independant' \n\nLovelock, James
