title: New statements on the Gaia theory.
abstract: Gaia is the name the ancient Greeks gave to their goddess of the Earth and is the root of words like geography and geology. Gaia is also a straightforward scientific theory about the Earth and the organisms that inhabit it. Gaia theory is testable and has a proper mathematical basis in a set of closely coupled differential equations. We do not yet know if it is a good explanation of the way our planet works; the evidence is only partially gathered. Its main value at this stage is to provide a different way to look at the Earth. In science, Gaia theory has already led to significant discoveries but just as important it forces us to question whether the good of humankind is the only thing that matters. The true value of the journeys into space was to reveal the Earth as a live planet. They made us realise for the first time that humanism is not enough. The view from space teaches that we are part of a greater entity, the Earth, and that our survival and its good health are inextricably entwined. Perhaps in time we can expand our view to encompass the larger systems of the galaxy and the Universe. Now the Earth needs our full attention.
authors.affiliation: Coombe Mill, St. Giles on the Heath, Lauceston, United Kingdom.
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Lovelock
mesh_terms: D018534:Earth, Planet; D005544:Forecasting; D055593:Geological Phenomena; D005844:Geology; D010684:Philosophy