Healing Gaia : Practical Medicine for the Planet

Rating:
Summary: A great book about a great theory.
Review: Gaia is one of the most profound theories of the 20th century; the theory veiws the earth as a living organism with the ability to regulate the climate so it is comfortable for life.

Lovelock does a great job of expaining this theory in terms undestandable to anyone with a basic scientific education. the book is written from the point of veiw of a plenetary physician, this top down perspective really adds to the books charm. He includes case notes providing real cases of planetary ailments. There are sections on the anatomy, physiology and plagues of our earth.

This book is a refeshing escape from the usual reductionism of science, and a great treatment of the pressing issues concering our evironment.

Rating:
Summary: A more mature review
Review: The other review on this page was written by me (Lloyd) a few years ago. I am writing this review as a second look at the book now that I am older and (hopefully) more critical - i.e. less willing to be persuaded (!). Whilst I still think that the Gaia hypothesis is a fascinating idea and that Lovelock's book is well worth reading, I am now much more sceptical about the actual evidence for the hypothesis -- empirical evidence is, after all, the final and absolute test of a hypothesis in science.

Lovelock's writing can be very poetic. I don't think this is necessarily a bad thing, but in some cases -- such as the description of the earth as being an 'organism' -- clarity and scientific precision seems to be sacrificed in favour of emotion. In the review 'Reviewing Lovelock's second book on the Gaia Hypothesis' of 'The Ages of Gaia' someone explains Lovelock's ideas about the earth as an organism more eloquently than I can. I find this view much less likely (and therefore not as good as a scientific hypothesis) than the more down to earth -- if you will forgive the pun! -- statement that living things sometimes modify their environment in a way that keeps conditions favourable for life.

Which brings me back to the all-important question of whether the earth is 'self regulating'. It seems to me that this would be quite a difficult thing to demonstrate experimentally or by observation (although Lovelock does give examples of observations that support his hypothesis). I don't know what the current evidence amounts to (I am not a scientist!) but it seems to me that the current consensus is not with Lovelock.

In summary, I would recommend people to read the book but to bear in mind that Gaia is not a well-established theory. In particular, it might be good to also read some books about more mainstream evolutionary theory by authors such as Dawkins and Stephen Jay Gould (which are, in my opinion, brilliant books) first.