Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth

Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth
by James Lovelock

Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth
List Price: $19.99
Our Price: $8.42
You Save: $11.57 (58%)
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $2.44 (click here)
Category: Book
See more book details and other editions


(Click here)
Buy this book at online book store in your country
Canada | UK | Germany | France

Book Summary Information

Author: James Lovelock
Brand: Baker and Taylor
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2000-11-23
ISBN: 0192862189
Number of pages: 176
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA

Book Reviews of Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth

Book Review: Imagine an organism as big as Earth!
Summary: 5 Stars

Reading Edward Wilson's "The Future of Life" served as the spark to pick up and read this book. And its true, good things do come in small packages. The book is all of 140 pages, and is written in a lean, but not glossed-over style. Robert Lovelock (to my knowledge) is the contemporary father of the study of the earth as a complete living system.

Lovelock readily admits that the book serves more to promote the dialog about our planet as a living, breathing whole and to share key discoveries that support his concept. (He states in the Preface that his follow-on book, "The Ages of Gaia" aims to build the scientific argument to the Gaia theory.)

By no means, does Lovelock detour around the science that supports his case. With the scope of the topic requiring knowledge of both physical and biological science, and the small number of pages, he manages to instruct and create a sense of awe in a short amount of time.

The 3 major principles he brings to light about Gaia are:

1. Gaia exhibits a tendency to keep conditions (e.g., temperature, air quality) constant for all terrestrial life.

2. Like other living systems, Gaia has vital organs at the core, and expandable or redundant ones on the periphery.

3. Under the worse conditions, Gaia responses similar to other cybernetic systems (i.e., where time constant and loop gain are important)

The material is far reaching in both its scope and in shaping our understanding of where we stand. Put in the context of Gaia, we have straddled ourselves to the largest of all known living and breathing creatures.

Summary of Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth

In this classic work that continues to inspire its many readers, James Lovelock deftly explains his idea that life on earth functions as a single organism. Written for the non-scientist, Gaia is a journey through time and space in search of evidence with which to support a new and radically different model of our planet. In contrast to conventional belief that living matter is passive in the face of threats to its existence, the book explores the hypothesis that the earth's living matter-air, ocean, and land surfaces-forms a complex system that has the capacity to keep the Earth a fit place for life.
Since Gaia was first published, many of Jim Lovelock's predictions have come true, and his theory has become a hotly argued topic in scientific circles. Here, in a new Preface, Lovelock outlines his present state of the debate.

Business & Investing Books

Book Subjects
Most talked about in Business & Investing Books
Money for Nothing: One Man's Journey Through the Dark Side of Lottery Millions ImageMoney for Nothing: One Man's Journey Through the Dark Side of Lottery Millions
by Edward Ugel
HarperBusiness; Published: 2007-09-18; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $1.46
Price in other shops: $24.95
You Can Do It! CD ImageYou Can Do It! CD
by Jonathan D. Pond
HarperAudio; Published: 2006-11-28; Audio CD; Book
Best price: $2.05
Price in other shops: $29.95
China's Megatrends: The 8 Pillars of a New Society ImageChina's Megatrends: The 8 Pillars of a New Society
by John Naisbitt, Doris Naisbitt
HarperBusiness; Published: 2010-01-05; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.99
Price in other shops: $27.99
The Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity ImageThe Great Reset: How New Ways of Living and Working Drive Post-Crash Prosperity
by Richard Florida
Harper; Published: 2010-04-27; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $9.98
Price in other shops: $26.99
Super Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance ImageSuper Freakonomics: Global Cooling, Patriotic Prostitutes, and Why Suicide Bombers Should Buy Life Insurance
by Steven D. Levitt, Stephen J. Dubner
William Morrow; Published: 2009-10-20; Hardcover; Book
Best price: $6.65
Price in other shops: $29.99
Attitude is Everything Rev Ed: 10 Life-Changing Steps to Turning Attitude into Action ImageAttitude is Everything Rev Ed: 10 Life-Changing Steps to Turning Attitude into Action
by Keith Harrell
HarperBusiness; Published: 2005-05-03; Paperback; Book
Best price: $4.31
Price in other shops: $16.99
Get Back in the Box: How Being Great at What You Do Is Great for Business ImageGet Back in the Box: How Being Great at What You Do Is Great for Business
by Douglas Rushkoff
HarperBusiness; Published: 2007-01-30; Paperback; Book
Best price: $0.65
Price in other shops: $12.95
Market Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders ImageMarket Wizards: Interviews with Top Traders
by Jack D. Schwager
Perennial (HarperCollins); Published: 1990-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.74
The Truth About Money 3rd Edition ImageThe Truth About Money 3rd Edition
by Ric Edelman
HarperBusiness; Published: 2003-12-23; Paperback; Book
Best price: $2.39
Price in other shops: $19.99
J.K. Lasser's Taxes Made Easy for Your Home-Based Business ImageJ.K. Lasser's Taxes Made Easy for Your Home-Based Business
by Gary W. Carter
Macmillan General Reference; Published: 1999-01; Paperback; Book
Best price: $3.00
Price in other shops: $15.95
Similar Books and other products
From Gaia to Selfish Genes: Selected Writings in the Life Sciences ImageFrom Gaia to Selfish Genes: Selected Writings in the Life Sciences
The MIT Press; Published: 1992-07-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $18.87
Price in other shops: $27.00
The Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems ImageThe Web of Life: A New Scientific Understanding of Living Systems
by Fritjof Capra
Anchor; Published: 1997-09-15; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.09
Price in other shops: $17.00
Biophilia ImageBiophilia
by Edward O. Wilson
Harvard University Press; Published: 1984-01-13; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.50
Price in other shops: $23.00
The Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World ImageThe Spell of the Sensuous: Perception and Language in a More-Than-Human World
by David Abram
Vintage; Published: 1997-02-25; Paperback; Book
Best price: $8.99
Price in other shops: $16.00
Becoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology ImageBecoming Animal: An Earthly Cosmology
by David Abram
Vintage; Published: 2011-09-06; Paperback; Book
Best price: $9.85
Price in other shops: $16.95
Silent Spring ImageSilent Spring
by Rachel Carson
Baker and Taylor; Houghton Mifflin Company; Published: 2002-10-22; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.49
Price in other shops: $14.95
Symbiotic Planet: A New Look At Evolution ImageSymbiotic Planet: A New Look At Evolution
by Lynn Margulis
Basic Books; Published: 1999-10-08; Paperback; Book
Best price: $6.86
Price in other shops: $14.95
The Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis & The Fate of Humanity ImageThe Revenge of Gaia: Earth's Climate Crisis & The Fate of Humanity
by James Lovelock
Basic Books; Published: 2007-06-05; Paperback; Book
Best price: $1.68
Price in other shops: $15.95
The Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth (Commonwealth Fund Book Program) ImageThe Ages of Gaia: A Biography of Our Living Earth (Commonwealth Fund Book Program)
by James Lovelock
W. W. Norton & Company; Published: 1995-03-17; Paperback; Book
Best price: $13.85
Price in other shops: $20.95
The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning ImageThe Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning
by James Lovelock
Basic Books; Published: 2010-04-27; Paperback; Book
Best price: $5.99
Price in other shops: $15.00
Book store. Illustrated catalog of books on different categories