The Many Lives of James Lovelock

This splendid, balanced biography testifies to the pros and cons of scientific mavericks * * Guardian * *A scientific life as dissonant as it was remarkable. Watts [ … ] nimbly parses the brilliance and flaws of a man whose interdisciplinary interests spanned vast areas of twentieth-century research * * Financial Times * *Utterly fascinating - a beautifully braided account of the life of a maverick, prophetic genius. Jonathan Watts has turned Lovelock’s greatest idea into literary form, giving us a Gaian biography in which Lovelock’s discoveries are understood as always occurring in relation - to people, to places and to the Earth itself – ROBERT MACFARLANEIn this comprehensive biography, Jonathan Watts presents a well-researched chronicle of a complicated life, marked by professional success, controversy and some personal failings. Watts tells Lovelock’s story with admiration and compassion, but also with an honesty that embeds both success and failure in the complexities of being gifted, and human * * Times Literary Supplement * *In his tender and searching new biography of Lovelock, based on eighty hours of interviews with his subject, Jonathan Watts, global environment editor at the Guardian, embraces this multiplicity. [ … ] If you want a rounded sense of the man, this book provides one beautifully * * Economist * *An exploration of James Lovelock’s career, scientific work and personal life [that] doesn’t pull its punches … Despite covering more than a century’s worth of material, Watts’ biography is a zingy read, keeping an energetic pace without feeling superficial. Those interested in the environment, the history of science and the human drama behind scientific discoveries will all enjoy the ride * * Nature * *The essential guide to one of our era’s most important thinkers. Lovelock’s personal and intellectual journey, as told by Watts, is thrilling – BEN RAWLENCEA superbly written, beautifully balanced insight into one of the most fascinating minds (and lives) of the twentieth century. By carefully and, at times humorously, drawing out the many colours of Lovelock’s thought and life story, we get a riveting insight into some of the forces that have shaped our world today. In so doing, the biography becomes a significant contribution to ecological thought in its own right – MELANIE CHALLENGERJonathan Watts’ meticulously researched episodes of Jim’s life combine to reveal the person and luminary. Just as a master portrait records much more than a visual appearance, Jim emerges like a verbal hologram from the text. For those of us who sorely miss him as a friend and colleague, it’s a great comfort to know that he lives on in these pages – PROFESSOR CHRIS RAPLEY, UCL and former Director of the Science Museum)A wonderful book. It captures the friend and mentor I knew. It also taught me a few things I didn’t know about him – TIM LENTON, Professor of Earth System Science at Exeter University

Jonathan Watts is a journalist based in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. He is global environment editor at the Guardian and founder of the Rainforest Journalism Fund and the Amazon-centred news website sumauma.com. He has won numerous environmental and science journalism awards and is the author of When a Billion Chinese Jump: How China Will Save the World - or Destroy It.