3. OF GAIA, HOMEOSTASIS AND LOVELOCK
James Lovelock sees the world as it is; not as we would like it to be. Now, lately, he is coming to be recognized for what he really is – one of the most important and original thinkers of his age…
Time and again he so naturally not only sees through the problems that generally baffle others, but also comes up with excellent technological solutions to those. He has brought a revolution in the field of environmentology with his universal and holistic approach looking at it with a universal eye.
Unlike the traditional and contemporary Biophysicists working in the area, he has his own integrating and unifying vision of a generalized and universal theory of sustainability of life, be it earthly or extra-terrestrial. His visionary eccentricity took our mind away from the futility of looking for ET bugs and UFOs, to the astoundingly more spectacular scientific method – of looking on to our very own earth as a sample or specimen of the greater web of life. How such an idea struck upon him is another mystery!
And that is why most of our leading academicians, philosophers, and scientists consider him as the most important and original scientific genius in the world today. Lovelock points out that evidence of (the existence of) life lies in the way in which, the atmosphere was organized – for life organizes its own surroundings. As, to find a shore we look for a lighthouse, so do we have to look for life elsewhere by searching for an organized surrounding or atmosphere.
Lovelock’s extraordinary and epoch-making autobiography “Homage to Gaia: The Life of an Independent Scientist” concludes, – “The scientific evidence is now strong enough for me to take a chance and put my trust in Gaia. It is comforting to think that I am a part of her and to know that my destiny is to merge with the chemistry of our living planet.
“I now recognize that with each discovery the extent of the unknown grows larger, not smaller.” [– James Lovelock]
