Lovelock, James

[person]

British chemist, born in Letchworth Garden City (1919-). He developed the Gaia Hypothesis, which proposes that the biosphere and all physical components of Earth are coupled together in a complexly interacting system. The hypothesis is frequently paraphrased as describing Earth as a single living organism. Lovelock was also an inventor: His most famous invention is the electron capture detector, which provided valuable information on the distribution of halogen-bearing chemicals and CFCs in the atmosphere.