about the science - Gaian Variations about the science

What is today called Earth System science has its origins in the Gaia hypothesis, which in turn originated with the earliest mission to Mars.

British chemist and polymath James Lovelock was acting chief scientist for the physical life-detection experiments of the Viking mission in the mid-1960s.

Later, with the help of American microbiologist Lynn Margulis, the idea was further elaborated such that the Earth was recognized as a self-regulating system in which the climate and chemistry of the planet are kept constant, or in homeostasis, in the short term, and evolve over time in response to changing conditions and needs of the total system.

Later, with the help of American microbiologist Lynn Margulis, the idea was further elaborated such that the Earth was seen as a self-regulating system in which the climate and chemistry of the planet are kept constant, or in homeostasis, in the short term, and evolve over time in response to changing conditions and needs of the total system.

Lovelock's approach to searching for life on Mars, based on chemical analysis of the Martian atmosphere, led to reflections about our utterly different and remarkable planet.

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The stable persistence in the Earth’s atmosphere of gases that quickly react with each other could only be possible with some kind of ‘control system,’ Lovelock reasoned, and this must involve the life of the planet.

An important aspect of Lovelock's idea is that life does not simply adapt to its environment, as in the traditional Darwinian view, but is actively engaged in altering its surroundings for its own needs.