Gaia hypothesis

American  

[gey-uh hahy-poth-uh-sis, hi-poth‐] / ˈgeɪ ə haɪˌpɒθ ə sɪs, hɪˌpɒθ‐ /

noun

1. a theory advancing the notion that life on earth is perpetuated by the interaction of organisms with their inorganic environment, a process maintained by the earth’s self-regulation of its own material conditions and requirements.

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Gaia hypothesis British  

/ ˈɡaɪə /

noun

1. the theory that the earth and everything on it constitutes a single self-regulating living entity

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Etymology

Origin of Gaia hypothesis

Coined in 1975 by British environmentalist and futurist James E. Lovelock (1919–2022); Gaia ( def. 2 )

Example Sentences

The idea that life intimately influenced Earth’s atmospheric chemistry became the basis for what Lovelock called his Gaia hypothesis, which he would go on to perfect with microbiologist Lynn Margulis throughout the 1970s.

From Scientific American • Oct. 28, 2022

The Gaia hypothesis, first proposed in the 1970s, saw the Earth itself as a complex, self-regulating system that created and maintained the conditions for life on the planet.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 27, 2022

Echoing James Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis, which proposes that the Earth is a vast, self-regulating organism, Mutu said in her recent talk that the injustices humans commit against one another are inevitably related to the Earth.

From Washington Post • Jul. 7, 2021

On a molecular scale, it’s more apt to imagine each bacterium not as a pill with a tail, but as James Lovelock, the originator of the Gaia hypothesis, has it, like the island of Manhattan.

From Salon • Oct. 15, 2015

They began to study new models of interconnectivity and group mind, such as James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis and Rupert Sheldrakes theory of morphogenesis, to explain and confirm their growing sense of non-local community.

From Open Source Democracy by Rushkoff, Douglas