Gaia, A new look at life on Earth.
This book has been on my wish list for awhile, after reading Tim Flanney's book which introduced me to the idea it has given me a new perspective when looking at the environment and my part in it.
Reading this book was really for me going back to the source. Lovelock was the person who first came up with the Gaia theory. -The idea that the Earth is a self regulating complex system- So this book was the first book which postulated this theory. As mentioned in the forward many years after he first print in 1979 some of the information and data has proven incorrect but the basic idea has been strengthened in other areas.
So in many ways this is a classic book. I did year twelve chemistry and for me I found it hard going the read. I'd still recommend Flannery's book. I could imagine what sort of controversy Gaia would have been in 1979, so it was gutsy to print it back then.
For me the area what I like the most is the speculative nature of Gaia theory, which I dream up. Can it reproduce? Is there a central nerve system? Where does Christianity and theology fit with this idea? Others have already pondered Gaia if you think about the movie Avatar.
3/5, because it was the first on a great theory, not because it was an easy read.
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