In the 1960's, James Lovelock, through his research on the composition of the atmosphere with NASA, developed the controversial concept now known as Gaia.
Gaia regards the Earth as a living totality, a self regulating system that maintains 'comfortable' conditions for and by life itself. The idea of Gaia brings together all areas of science and this is one of the reasons why it remained largely an unexplored field for many years.
The concept
of the earth as a self-maintaining system - Gaia - is now widely accepted
as a reputable part of physical science. But this is not just a scientific
doctrine. It is also a large and extraordinarily fruitful idea. It affects
areas of our life that lie far outside science - for instance politics,
psychology, economics, agriculture, industry, ethics and religion. On
all these matters it can provide new and useful ways of thinking.
Human impact on the planet is mounting and the need for sustainable development
is becoming more urgent. Current scientific thinking is proving inadequate
to cope with the complexities of the resulting environmental problems,
and while there is a recognition that 'joined-up thinking' is essential
if we are going to move towards sustainability, it is not clear what this
means in practice.This emerging paradigm can help to correct the limitations
of such narrowly reductionist theories as neo-Darwinism to guide our actions
in a complex world. It has profound implications for how we view ourselves,
how we treat each other, how we treat other species, how we think about
community, and how we respond to change. A great deal will depend on the
way in which this new paradigm is now developed.
The ecology of Desert Systems
You can follow up Gaian ideas in the following directions
- Introduction
to Gaia
-
Implications of Gaia
in all areas of human activity
- Gaia people,
people working in Gaia studies and their supporters
- Gaia publications
- Gaia Events The
Gaianet committee organises a regular sequence of discussion meetings
around particular topics. You can see the position papers for these
meetings here.
- Gaia News
- Gaia Education
- Gaia related
organisations
- Models of Gaia