James Lovelock

Gaia hypothesis.

British independent scientist and inventor, Lovelock spent most of his career outside academic institutions, consulting for organisations including NASA. He invented the electron capture detector, which helped reveal global pesticide dispersal and CFCs in the atmosphere. His Gaia hypothesis, developed from the 1960s onwards and set out in his 1979 book, recast Earth as a self-regulating system in which life actively maintains conditions suitable for its own survival.