Product Description

Acclaim for "The Revenge of Gaia": 'The most important book for decades' - Andrew Marr. 'Riveting! a stark warning to mankind' - "The Times". 'Both entertaining and utterly terrifying, both thoughtful and constantly provocative! its echoes should reverberate throughout the world' - Mark Lynas, "New Statesman". 'We ignore James Lovelock's apocalyptic vision of the future at our peril' - Robin McKie, "Observer". 'Gaia will survive in one form or another. Lovelock's chilling question is: Will we?' - Rosie Boycott, "Mail on Sunday".

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #3419 in Books
• Published on: 2009-02-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 200 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review

About Jim Lovelock


(Photo Credit: Sandy Lovelock)

Jim Lovelock is an iconic figure in British science, a prophet whose prophecies are coming true. Lovelock is best known as the 'father' of Gaia theory, which is now established as the most useful way of understanding the dramatic changes happening to the environment of the Earth. Yet, throughout his life - as a student, independent scientist and writer - Lovelock has met with disagreement and disparagement. His drive came from personal belief, curiosity and conviction. He has been right for all his working life and, although it is frightening for us to believe the scenario he describes in The Vanishing Face of Gaia, he is right again.

The Vanishing Face of Gaia is James Lovelock's final word on the terrifying environmental problems we will confront in the twenty-first century. The earth as we know it is vanishing. It is moving inexorably to a new, hot state. The idea that we can "save the planet" by reducing carbon emissions is, Lovelock writes, nothing but a sales pitch. The earth, as it always has done, will save itself. It is up to us to save the human race.

As he approaches his 90th birthday, James Lovelock looks forward to what he describes as "a hell of an upgrade", as Richard Branson is sending him into space with Virgin Galactic, so he can, for the first time, see the face of Gaia.

"James Lovelock is one of the greatest scientists of his own generation and has inspired further generations of scientists to see the world as a single system operating in feedback and behaving as a single living organism. His vision of the planet as Gaia and subsequent Gaia Theory are the bedrocks of modern environmental science and his work on the role of CFCs in the depletion of Ozone in the atmosphere was truly ground breaking. There could be no more fitting tribute to the father of Gaia Theory than to let him see Gaia's beauty from space, something he has dreamed of doing all of his life." 
-         Sir Richard Branson, 8 February 2009

"I feel I cannot possibly disagree with Lovelock, or with the overwhelming body of scientists who attest to the reality of climate change.If Lovelock is only half-right, then we must have an immediate programme to pastoralise the global economy and reduce emissions. The paradox is that he is completely right, there is not a lot we can do, and we might as well enjoy our beautiful planet while we can."

-         Daily Telegraph, Boris Johnson, 2 February 2006

"Generally, one tries not to boost books or writers who come on to programmes beyond the fact that they're there. James Lovelock, however, has to be an exception... Lovelock deserves to stir up a Galileo-sized political storm."

-         Daily Telegraph, Andrew Marr, 1 February 2006.

"He is the most important and original scientific thinker in the world today."

-         John Gray, Professor of European Thought at the London School of Economics.

"Its conclusion can be best summed up in the words of Dad's Army's Private Frazer: 'We're doomed'."

-         The Tablet, Russell Sparks, 3 February 2007.

"Lovelock writes with the lovely naivety of the successful maverick"

-         The Sunday Times (Culture), February 28 2007.

"The Revenge of Gaia is a riveting and troubling work by a true 'scientific visionary'."

-         The Week, Saturday 4 February 2006.

"Lovelock has done his part by saying what nobody else dares."

-         Newsweek, William Underhill, 24 April 2006.

"His appetite for life remains gargantuan."

-         Saturday Guardian, Review, Andrew Brown, 31 December 2005.

"He is an unexpected ecological Jeremiah... The man who changed our thinking about the world and its living beings may also have profoundly altered the way it will fight the battle against environmental mayhem."

-         The Observer, Energy, Robin McKie, 11 October 2006.

"With Earth in the future looking set to become a dramatically different place, these are radical ideas that we may just have to accept."

-         BBC Focus, Jheni Osman, May 2006.

"Unlike science bores, Lovelock talks in the vivid lingo of the science-fictionalist."

-         The Week, Saturday, Jasper Gerard, 11 February 2006.

"He is not just scaremongering. He is reflecting the views of a growing body of climatologists."

-         The Times, Magnus Linklater, Wednesday 19 April 2006.

"Lovelock is a fascinating figure, and a scientist of long and impeccable degree."

-         FT Magazine, Fiona Harvey, January 28/29 2006.

"Lovelock is the most profound scientific thinker of our time, and - though I admit in the present climate this is not saying much - the greatest living Englishman."

-         Literary Review, Bryan Appleyard, Wednesday 1 March 2006.

"Lovelock"s vast learning, crisp and energetic writing, and original thinking mean that every disagreement is a prompt to become better informed and clearer thinking about climate change."

-         The Independent on Sunday, John Whitfield, 12 February 2006.

"Gaia is becoming as accepted as relativity."

-         New Scientist, F. David Peat, Saturday 18 March 2006.

 "The most important book ever to be published on the environmental crisis."

-          The Independent, John Gray, when? (cf. Yorkshire Post, Michael Meadowcroft, 26 April 2006.)

"This is a hugely serious book. You will rarely read anything more serious. More humane, more humbling, more passionate, more scientific, more spiritual, more important or, in its way, more lyrical - certainly not in 160 pages."

-          BBC Focus, Fred Pearce, Wednesday, 1 March 2006.

"Lovelock's fame and notoriety as well as the book's contents ensure it"s already a classic work of science."

-          Royal Meteorological Society. Edward Hanna, April 2006.

About the Author
James Lovelock is the author of more than 200 scientific papers and the originator of the Gaia Hypothesis (now Gaia Theory). He has written three books on the subject: Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth, The Ages of Gaia and Gaia: The Practical Science of Planetary Medicine, as well as an autobiography, Homage to Gaia. In 2003 he was made a Companion of Honour by Her Majesty the Queen, and in September 2005 Prospect magazine named him as one of the world's top 100 global public intellectuals. In April 2006 he was awarded the Edinburgh Medal at the Edinburgh International Science Festival.

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Customer Reviews

A New Hope
James delivers one final warning before he blasts into space. He pulls no punches as he lays into politicians, environmentalists, scientists, the EU, wind-turbines and Tony Blair, to name but a few. Gaia is moving to a new hotter state and she has no intention of taking us with her. In the UK our small and overpopulated island will struggle, as it becomes one of the last lifeboats of civilisation. It's James' hope that a new Churchill will arise and take the tiller. Democracy will take a backseat as our military prepare to repel boarders while our engineers build nuclear power stations and compact cities. Life as we have know it for the past 50 years will change forever as we move towards a better and self-sufficient future. A truly inspirational read.

And So St Will Be
We're in serious trouble according to Professor James Lovelock, in fact, a dire emergency. Global heating (he no longer calls it 'warming') is upon us, leading inevitably to catastrophic climate change. Commitments by our leaders to 'tackle climate change' or 'to create green economic growth' merely demonstrate their lack of understanding. Biofuels, windfarms, carbon trading and the rest are not just wasted effort, they make matters worse. One brief example: The felling of pristine forest to grow biofuel crops is not only not green, it's criminally insane. The underlying cause of our dilemma, the disasterous thing that we can do nothing about, is seven billion people increasing by a hundred and fifty every minute, plus an equally bloated biomass of livestock and pets. Soon, possibly in decades rather than centuries, there will be a huge cull of humankind brought about by sea-level rise, flood, storm, drought and desertification triggering various humanitarian crises: societal collapse, crop failure, famine, mass migration, war for exisiting resources and so on. No longer should we be talking senselessly about saving the planet, says Lovelock. The planet doesn't need our help to survive, it's had far worse things than us happen to it in its long history. Life on planet Earth is pretty well guaranteed to continue, it's we who are in danger. We need to be planning our own survival.
When apocalyptic forecasts are being made by great scientists we should all be taking notice, but is he right? And that brings us to the scariest thing of all, because Lovelock is far from alone, many thousands of leading scientists around the world, to a greater or lesser extent, agree with him about the seriousness of the situation, if not the detail. Despite the grimness it's an entertaining read, with offered solutions for local survival, a glimmer of optimism and surprises, not least that Lovelock is a famous advocate of nuclear power.

A terrifying book on the fate of our planet.
This is the seventh book by the independent and interdisciplinary scientist, James Lovelock, on the subject of Gaia and probably the most terrifying. Lovelock's concept of Gaia - the idea that the Earth & biosphere act together as a self-regulating system - was derided by conventional scientists initially but is now generally accepted.
Lovelock now believes that human activities are destabilising climates which has accelerated since the Industrial Revolution and will lead ultimately to pockets of humanity surviving on "lifeboats" in the northern hemisphere.
Now in his 90th year, James Lovelock, writes with immense authority on the state of the Earth but may not be right about everything - he's very pro-nuclear power and anti-wind farms, for example. However, this book deserves to be taken seriously although it's unlikely to convert the 'Jeremy Clarksons' of this world.