I have been reading this book. James Lovelock's Gaia Hypothesis has been one of the more controversial theories in recent years. He claims that the whole Earth acts as a living organism and regulates the conditions on the planet to ensure the continuance of life. I still find it hard to accept in full but there is now irrefutable evidence that living organisms do have a sizable effect on the atmosphere and thus affect the living conditions. I changed my mind on Lovelock after watching a BBC4 profile of him. He invented the detector that enabled the hole in the ozone layer to be found. He clearly believes in science done by making observations. This is important.