tion of a Gaian perspective. The Gaia theory, or Gaia hypothesis, comprehends Earth and all its constituents as a single, complex, self-regulating system—an entity with complex interrelated systems at all levels of scale—that maintains conditions for life.

In the 1960s, James Lovelock
was a visiting scientist at Jet
Propulsion Laboratories in
Pasadena, California. He began
work on what we now know as
the Gaia theory to describe those
characteristics of a planet as seen
from space that might identify it
as a system supporting life. In his
1979 book, Gaia: A New Look at Life
on Earth, Lovelock unfolds the Gaia
hypothesis, arrived at through his
collaborations with microbiologist
Lynn Margulis and others [ 7]. Gaia,
Lovelock says, is “a complex entity
involving the Earth’s biosphere,
atmosphere, oceans, and soil; the
totality constituting a feedback
or cybernetic system which seeks
an optimal physical and chemical
environment for life on this planet”
[ 8]. In her book Symbiotic Planet,
Margulis explains that Gaia is “an
emergent property of interactions
among organisms” [ 9]. In the years
since its initial publication, the Gaia
hypothesis has been tested through
such a variety of scientific means
that it is now widely accepted
among the scientific community.

September + October 2011