Mythographers Codexery

James Lovelock

Independent scientist who proposed the Gaia hypothesis.

James Lovelock was an independent scientist, inventor, and author best known for developing the Gaia hypothesis.[1][2] For many years, James Lovelock was employed by MI5, the British intelligence agency.[3]

Quick Facts

Birth name
James Ephraim Lovelock
Born
26 July 1919
Birthplace
Letchworth, Hertfordshire, England
Died
26 July 2022
Place of death
Abbotsbury, Dorset, England
Field
Chemistry; earth science
Workplaces
  • Independent scientist
  • Yale University
  • Baylor College of Medicine
  • Harvard Medical School
Children
4

Facts from the source article.

Key facts and history

He registered as a conscientious objector but later abandoned that in the light of Nazi atrocities and tried to enlist.[4] He invented the electron capture detector, which ultimately assisted in discoveries about the persistence of CFCs and their role in stratospheric ozone depletion.[5][6] Raised as a Quaker, Lovelock absorbed the idea that "God is a still, small voice within rather than some mysterious old gentleman way out in the universe".[7] Following his school years, Lovelock took a position at a photography business while attending Birkbeck College in the evenings; subsequently, he pursued chemistry studies at the University of Manchester.[8][9]

The Gaia hypothesis, his most famous concept, was formulated by Lovelock during his time as a consultant for NASA.[1] On his 103rd birthday in 2022, Lovelock passed away at his Abbotsbury, Dorset residence.[10]

What the cited sources add

In a 2012 interview with MSNBC, Lovelock stated that he had been "alarmist" about the timing of climate change, using the words "All right, I made a mistake".[6][11] The Toronto Sun reported that Lovelock's invention of the electron capture detector in 1957 first enabled scientists to measure CFCs and other pollutants in the atmosphere.[6] The Manchester Magazine noted that Lovelock has been named "the elder statesman of science" and "the most influential scientist and writer since Charles Darwin".[2] A 2012 Guardian interview noted that Lovelock displayed a poster of a wind turbine in his study, serving as a reminder of his intense dislike for them.[12][13]

Lovelock's investigations in the mid-1960s using the ECD revealed increasing levels of chlorofluorocarbon gases in the atmosphere.[14] Lovelock wed Helen Hyslop in 1942, and the couple had four children.[15]

References

  1. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Wintle, "New Makers of Modern Culture", Routledge, 22 April 2016, p. 931 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  2. "From Manchester to Mars", The Manchester Magazine. facts only, no text reused. manchestermag.com
  3. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Writing Gaia: The Scientific Correspondence of James Lovelock and Lynn Margulis", Cambridge University Press, 18 August 2022; Appleyard, "Writing Gaia review: what my friend James Lovelock's letters reveal", The Sunday Times, 21 August 2022 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  4. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Irvine, "James Lovelock: The green man", The Independent, 3 December 2005; Lovelock 2000, p. 80 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  5. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Lovelock, "Atmospheric Fluorine Compounds as Indicators of Air Movements", Nature, 1971, p. 379; Lovelock, "Halogenated Hydrocarbons in and over the Atlantic", Nature, 1973, p. 194; Lovelock, "Travels with an Electron Capture Detector", 29 October 1997; Lovelock, "Atmospheric Dimethyl Sulphide and the Natural Sulphur Cycle", Nature, 1972, p. 452; Charlson, "Oceanic phytoplankton, atmospheric sulphur, cloud albedo and climate", Nature, 1987, p. 655 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  6. Goldstein, "Green 'drivel' exposed", Toronto Sun, 23 June 2012. facts only, no text reused. torontosun.com
  7. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "James Lovelock at 100: "My life has been one mass of visions"", New Statesman, 31 July 2019; Carey, "The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning by James Lovelock and He Knew He Was Right: The Irrepressible Life of James Lovelock and Gaia by John and Mary Gribbin", The Sunday Times, 22 February 2009; "James Lovelock: 'The biosphere and I are both in the last 1% of our lives'", The Guardian, 18 July 2020; : "strand school." (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  8. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "From Manchester to Mars", The Manchester Magazine; "Detailed Biography of James Lovelock", Environmentalists For Nuclear (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  9. "James Lovelock", 8 May 2012. facts only, no text reused. bbc.co.uk
  10. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: "Centenarian could hold key to brighter future", University of Exeter, 17 July 2019; "James Lovelock obituary", The Guardian, 27 July 2022; Schneider, "James Lovelock, Whose Gaia Theory Saw the Earth as Alive, Dies at 103", The New York Times, 27 July 2022; "James Lovelock, creator of Gaia hypothesis, dies on 103rd birthday", The Guardian, 27 July 2022 (original not read by us) en.wikipedia.org
  11. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Johnston, "'Gaia' scientist James Lovelock: I was 'alarmist' about climate change", MSNBC, 23 April 2012; Goldstein, "Green 'drivel' exposed", Toronto Sun, 23 June 2012; Goldstein, "Green 'drivel' exposed", Toronto Sun, 23 June 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  12. Hickman, "James Lovelock: The UK should be going mad for fracking", The Guardian, 15 June 2012. facts only, no text reused. theguardian.com
  13. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Johnston, "'Gaia' scientist James Lovelock: I was 'alarmist' about climate change", MSNBC, 23 April 2012; Hickman, "James Lovelock: The UK should be going mad for fracking", The Guardian, 15 June 2012; Goldstein, "Green 'drivel' exposed", Toronto Sun, 23 June 2012; Goldstein, "Green 'drivel' exposed", Toronto Sun, 23 June 2012; "James Lovelock letter on wind turbines Broadbury Ridge", The Register, 12 December 2012; Hickman, "James Lovelock: The UK should be going mad for fracking", The Guardian, 15 June 2012 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org
  14. Irvine, "James Lovelock: The green man", The Independent, 3 December 2005. facts only, no text reused. independent.co.uk
  15. Wikipedia, "James Lovelock" (CC BY-SA 4.0), which cites: Irvine, "James Lovelock: The green man", The Independent, 3 December 2005; Carey, "The Vanishing Face of Gaia: A Final Warning by James Lovelock and He Knew He Was Right: The Irrepressible Life of James Lovelock and Gaia by John and Mary Gribbin", The Sunday Times, 22 February 2009; ; Siegle, "This much I know: James Lovelock, scientist, 86, Devon", The Guardian, 22 May 2005; "James Lovelock – Independent Scientist, Inventor & Author", SUCCESSness, 17 November 2015 (we also read that source) en.wikipedia.org

Each numbered sentence above was checked against the source it cites before publication. Sentences citing Wikipedia adapt text from the English Wikipedia article James Lovelock (contributors), used under CC BY-SA 4.0; this entry is available under the same licence. Other sources were used for facts only; no text or images are copied from them.

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