Homage to Gaia Life of an independent scientist

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

James Lovelock tells the fascinating story of his life as an independent scientist and how he came to develop his inventions and theories. He has filed more than 50 patents, including one for the electron capture detector that was important in the development of environmental awareness, in connection with both the detection of pesticide residues in the environment and the discovery of the global distribution of CFCs. He also tells us about the work he has done for organizations such as NASA, the Ministry of Defence, The Marine Biological Association, and many companies such as Shell and Hewlett Packard. From his childhood days in east London to a job as a lab assistant - his first crucial steps to becoming a scientist, from chemistry at Manchester University to the Medical Research Council during World War II, his voyage to the Arctic, taking his family to America, returning to England and fighting to save the ozone layer, his quest for gaia, then into the nineties and a stream of awards, including a CBE from the Queen. James Lovelock has led a fulfilling life and has been widely recognized by the international scientific community.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• 1 Childhood
• 2 The Long Apprenticeship
• 3 Twenty years of Medical Research
• 4 The Mill Hill Institute
• 5 The First Steps to Independence at Houston, Texas
• 6 The Independent Practice of Science
• 7 The ECD
• 8 The Ozone War
• 9 The Quest for Gaia
• 10 The Practical Side of Independent Science
• 11 Building Your Own Bypass
• 12 Three Score Years and Ten and then the Fun Begins
• 13 Epilogue
• Acknowledgements

Author notes provided by Syndetics

James Lovelock is an independent scientist, inventor, and author. He was elected Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974 and in 1975 received the Tswett Medal for Chromatography. In 1988 he was a recipient of the Norbert Gerbier Prize of the World Meteorological Organization, and in 1990 was awarded the first Amsterdam Prize for the Environment by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences. Further awards include the Nonino Prize and the Volvo Environment Prize in 1996, and Japan's Blue Planet prize in 1997. Her Majesty the Queen made him a CBE in 1990. One of his inventions is the electron capture detector, which was important in the development of environmental awareness. It revealed for the first time the ubiquitous distribution of pesticide residues. He co-operated with NASA and some of his inventions were adopted in their programme of planetory explanation.