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Watts put it, “as a vine grapes, so the Earth peoples” (Watts 1999). The sci-
entific understanding of Gaia as an organism was first explored Vladimir Ver-
nadsky in 1944-1945 (Vernadsky 1997) and later articulated by James Lovelock
(Lovelock 1979; Joseph 1990). Lovelock strove to construct a scientific narra-
tive that demonstrated the Earth to be a whole living being, of which we are
co-dependent parts. Taken together with Campbell and Watts' narrative inver-
sions, Lovelock's work, extended by works of such scientists as Lyn Margulis
and Dorion Sagan (Margulis & Sagan 1987), enhanced the impact of the Gaia
hypothesis, both as a new line of scientific thinking and a new story for our
relationship to our planet.
Scientific narratives always appear in situated contexts, often involving
struggles to assert scientific findings in ways that do not offend religious in-
stitutions. Galileo, Copernicus, Darwin, and countless others have engaged in
such struggles. In contrast, Newton thought that “Nature” was 'God's book” -
and that by reading Nature's “laws”, he could come closer to the mind - and
purpose - of the Christian God (Fauvel 1988). Relatively few modern scien-
tists hold this view; most simply assume the existence of an external world,
eschewing solipsism, and want to know How It Works.
The theory of evolution provides an excellent example. From the Victorian
era to the present day, the tendency of evolution to move toward greater com-
plexity has been popularly misunderstood to mean that evolution moves to-
ward greater perfection. Many believe evolution to be the unfolding according
to God's Divine Plan, which culminates in Man.
But contemporary scientists like Lyn Margulis and Stephen Jay Gould
(Gould 1989, 2002) see things differently. Their research suggests that evolu-
tion is neither the unfolding of a divine plan nor the inevitable march of sen-
tience toward more and more spectacular manifestations. Devolution - or a
movement toward less complexity - is also part of the process. And for human-
ity, like countless species that have disappeared over the millennia, extinction
is a real possibility. Evolution is a process, not an outcome.
The particular sort of self-reflective consciousness that humans have seems
unique on Earth. But as Margulis and Sagan argue, the most ancient microor-
ganisms “invented” us through the process of evolution. Our consciousness
is a manifestation, not exclusively of human brains, but of the entire bio-
sphere, including the microcosmic life that surrounds and inhabits our own
bodies. The biblical text in which God places Man in dominion over the natu-
ral world creates a attempts to separate humans from the rest of Nature. Gaians,
environmentalists, and most scientists disagree.
