Ebook: On Gaia: a critical investigation of the relationship between life and earth

One of the enduring questions about our planet is how it has remained continuously habitable over vast stretches of geological time despite the fact that its atmosphere and climate are potentially unstable. James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis posits that life itself has intervened in the regulation of the planetary environment in order to keep it stable and favourable for life. First proposed in the 1970s, Lovelock's hypothesis remains highly controversial and continues to provoke fierce debate. This work undertakes an in-depth investigation of the arguments put forward by Lovelock and others - and concludes that the evidence doesn't stack up in support of Gaia.