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Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth

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James Lovelock has created a powerful and interesting argument in this book that will keep scientists busy for centuries. He notices that there is an ability for the Earth to maintain relatively constant conditions in temperature, atmosphere, salinity and pH of the oceans, and reductions in pollutants that defies the simple observations of what "should" happen. From this, he concludes that there is a complex of physical, chemical and biological interrelationships that work like a living organism, which he defines as the Gaia Hypothesis. For defining that concept and providing some of the measurements to establish its premises, he deserves a 7 star rating.

Unfortunately, the argument is expressed in overlong and convoluted fashion. He deliberately limits himself to a nonscientific explanation in this book. The scientific version of the argument is in The Ages of Gaia. Although the book is not long, it certainly could have been condensed into a longish article for Scientific American or The Atlantic Monthly. My second quibble is that the editor was nowhere in sight on the organization of the book. The key point is often buried in the third sentence of the last paragraph in a chapter. The argument in between wanders into all kinds of places where it doesn't need to go. For organization and editing, I give this book a one star rating.

So the average is a 4 star rating. The writing itself is pleasant enough. Don't let the lack of organization and editing put you off, for it is worth your while to read this book. It will remind you of the benefits of the sort of sytems thinking that Peter Senge talks about in The Fifth Discipline.

The other thing you will learn is the weakness of scientific work that fails to develop enough field data and to connect enough with other disciplines. I was struck by the same observations recently while visiting environmental scientists at the Smithsonian Institution. The basics in many of these areas have yet to be measured and evaluated. This book will point countless generations forward in understanding how our plant maintains its environment that permits life to flourish. Clearly, it is a stallbusting effort to replace "stalled" thinking about the history and future of the Earth. I found the key questions (such as why doesn't the ocean become more saline?) to be irresistible. I think you will, too. Enjoy and think!

This excellent book presents the theory that life on Earth has not "only" adapted to the existing environment it found but has actively modified the changing conditions on Earth over billions of years (aeons) so that they are suitable for the necessities of the living.

Lovelock is not only a passionate scientist, who precisely argues all of his assumptions, but also a good writer. Although the book tells us about a scientific theory, it is not written in a complex way, nor with scientific rigour, so you can not expect a journal paper on the Gaian hypothesis but a literary book about the history of life in our planet. In this sense I see absolutely no problem in the fact that main ideas are not always at the beginning of a chapter.

Some basic physical and chemical knowledge is conveyed in the book, you should not think that it is possible to understand how a planet and life on it work without basic chemistry and physics concepts such as entropy and chemical equilibrium, but a bit of extra reading would do, I think (although I am a chemist, so all concepts were natural to me).

In my opinion, this is an eye-opening and very recommendable book for everyone minimally interested in the welfare of the Earth and the environment. Undoubtedly 5 stars.

Although parts of the text are confusing and too deep for a mere mortal like myself, this book changed the whole way I look at the earth and my own role upon it, not to mention the part my species is taking. Reading and re-reading yields great rewards, the arguments, whether agreed with or not, are cogent and thought provoking, and will provide for many a night spent in those deep discussions with friends