James Lovelock, dies at 103

James Lovelock, Whose Gaia Theory Saw the Earth as Alive, Dies at 103
A British ecologist, he captured imaginations with his hypothesis and was essential to today’s understanding of man-made pollutants and their effect on the climate.

By Keith Schneider
Published July 27, 2022
Updated Aug. 11, 2022

James Lovelock in 1962. Among his inventions was the Electron Capture Detector, an inexpensive, portable, exquisitely sensitive device used to measure the spread of toxic man-made compounds in the environment. Credit... Donald Uhrbrock/Getty Images

James Lovelock, the maverick British ecologist whose work was essential to today’s understanding of man-made pollutants and their effect on climate and who captured the scientific world’s imagination with his Gaia theory, portraying the Earth as a living creature, died on Tuesday, his 103rd birthday, at his home in Dorset, in southwest England.

His family confirmed the death in a statement on Twitter, saying that until six months ago he “was still able to walk along the coast near his home in Dorset and take part in interviews, but his health deteriorated after a bad fall earlier this year. ”

Dr Lovelock’s breadth of knowledge extended from astronomy to zoology. In his later years, he became an eminent proponent of nuclear power as a means to help solve global climate change and a pessimist about humankind’s capacity to survive a rapidly warming planet.

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