WAS Charles Darwin the first Gaian scientist? The hostility of many modern Darwinists to James Lovelock’s science of how life regulates the environment on Earth makes the question almost sacrilegious. But in one of the 31 essays in this splendid volume, Eileen Crist argues that Darwin’s exploration, late in life, of the ecological importance of the humble earthworm reached unmistakeably Gaian conclusions.
Gaia, stripped of its mystical associations with the eponymous Greek goddess and relabelled Earth system science, has in 40 years moved from heresy to mainstream. In this less spectacular guise, the notion of a “living Earth” is reduced…
