A biography for James Lovelockhasn’t been written yet.
“There aren't just bad people that commit genocide; we are all capable of it. It's our evolutionary history.”
“If you start any large theory, such as quantum mechanics, plate tectonics, evolution, it takes about 40 years for mainstream science to come around. Gaia has been going for only 30 years or so.”
“The problem is we don't know what the climate is doing. We thought we knew 20 years ago. That led to some alarmist books - mine included - because it looked clear-cut, but it hasn't happened.”
“One thing that being a scientist has taught me is that you can never be certain about anything. You never know the truth. You can only approach it and hope to get a bit nearer to it each time. You iterate towards the truth. You don't know it.”
“Esso has been the main one in America spreading the disinformation that there is no global warming problem.”
“The tropical rain forests are a telling example. Once cut down, they rarely recover. Rainfall drops, deserts spread, the climate warms.”
“Evolution is a tightly coupled dance, with life and the material environment as partners. From the dance emerges the entity Gaia.”
“A billion could live off the earth; 6 billion living as we do is far too many, and you run out of planet in no time.”
“I'm a scientist, not a theologian. I don't know if there is a God or not. Religion requires certainty. Revere and respect Gaia. Have trust in Gaia. But not faith.”
“The climate is doing its usual tricks. There's nothing much really happening yet. We were supposed to be halfway toward a frying world now.”
“The oil companies regard nuclear power as their rival, who will reduce their profits, so they put out a lot of disinformation about nuclear power.”