Obituaries

Obituary James Lovelock

World famous scientist and environmentalist James Lovelock has died on his 103rd birthday at his Abbotsbury home. Best known for codeveloping Gaia theory –which proposes that all species on Earth have coevolved as part of a global ecosystem – the pioneering futurist passed away surrounded by his family earlier this month. Mr Lovelock was arguably one of the greatest interdisciplinary scientists of his generation. In 1957, Mr Lovelock invented the electron capture device, the first machine to ever detect chlorofluorocarbon (CFC) gases in the atmosphere and alerting the world to the damage they were doing. Early in his career, Mr Lovelock also built a functional microwave before they were commercially available. Mr Lovelock developed the prototype microwave as a means to thaw out and fully reanimate frozen hamsters for use in scientific experimentation. Mr Lovelock was also in all likelihood the first person to ever eat a microwaved meal – he said in an interview with YouTuber Tom Scott that he used his prototype microwave to cook a potato for his lunch one day and that it was ‘perfectly fine’. In 1961, NASA recruited Mr Lovelock to build atmospheric and planetary surface analysis instruments that were sent to Mars as part of its Viking mission – the instruments are still there to this day. While working for NASA at its Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, Mr Lovelock realised that analysing gases in the Martian atmosphere would indicate whether life was present. This revelation was probably an early inspiration for what would later develop into his Gaia hypothesis – which had critics such as Richard Dawkins taking exception to its contradictions of Darwin’s ‘survival of the fittest’ theory. In the 2000s, Mr Lovelock proposed a climate engineering project to help restore algae species that consume carbon dioxide to the oceans. In 2019 he co-authored Novacene with Bryan Appleyard. The book argues that humanity is on the brink of a new era of evolution and that in the future a benevolent, ecofriendly artificial intelligence will become Earth’s dominant lifeform. Posting on Twitter, Mr Lovelock’s family said: “Our beloved James Lovelock died yesterday (July 26) in his home surrounded by his family on his 103rd birthday. To the world, he was best known as a scientific pioneer, climate prophet and conceiver of the Gaia theory. To us, he was a loving husband and wonderful father with a boundless sense of curiosity, a mischievous sense of humour, and a passion for nature. “Up until six months ago, he was still able to walk along the coast near his home in Dorset and take part in interviews, but his health deteriorated after a bad fall earlier this year. He passed away at 21:55 of complications related to the fall. The funeral will be private. There will be a public memorial service later. The family requests privacy at this time.” The statement was signed by Mr Lovelock’s wife Sandra, his daughters Christine Lovelock and Jane Flynn and his sons Andrew and John Lovelock.

Picture: John Gurd

PIONEERING: Scientist and environmentalist James Lovelock

A life spent increasing the sum of human knowledge has ended.

DR DAVID CLIFFORD EVANS

Man of letters 6 November 1942 - 31 July 2022

Funeral private Contact A J Wakely & Sons Ltd 91 East Street Bridport DT6 3LB Tel: 01308 423726

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