Table of Contents

Part 1 Gaia - an overview: geophysiology - the science of Gaia, James E. Lovelock; the biota And gaia - 150 years of support for environmental sciences, Lynn Margulis and Gregory Hinkle; co-evolution and its applicability to the Gaia hypothesis, Paul Ehrlich; a selection of biogenic influences relevant to the Gaia hypothesis, Walter Shearer. Part 2 Philosophical foundations of Gaia: Gaia and the myths of harmony - an exploration of ethical and practical implications, John Visvader; the Gaia hypotheses - are they testable? Are they useful?, James W. Kirchner; Gaia - hypothesis or worldview?, John J.Kineman; the mechanical and the organic - on the impact of metaphor in science, David Abram. Part 3 Theoretical foundations of Gaia: ecosystem stability and diversity, John Harte; Earth - the water planet - a lucky coincidence?, B. Henderson-Sellers et al; the climate system and its regulation by atmospheric radiative processes, Jeffrey T. Kiehl; theoretical microbial and vegetation control of planetary environments, Penelope J. Boston and Starley L. Thompson; mechanisms for stabilization and destabilization of a simple biosphere - catastrophe on daisyworld, Ralph Keeling; radiative entropy as a measure of complexity, Glen B. Lesins. Part 4 Mechanisms - sulfur: geophysiological interaction in the global sulfur cycle, M.O. Andreae; planetary homeostasis through the sulfur cycle, Glenn E. Shaw; atmospheric sulfur from oceanic phytoplankton versus sulfur from industry - which dominates cloud condensation nuclei?, Robert J. Charlson; evolutionary pressures on planktonic dimethylsulfide production, Ken Caldeira. Part 5 Mechanisms - oxygen: atmospheric oxygen, tectonics and life, Robert A. Berner; Gaian and non-Gaian explanations for the contemporary level of atmospheric oxygen, G.R. Williams; the mechanisms that control the carbon dioxide and oxygen content of the atmosphere, Heinrich D. Holland. Part 6 Mechanisms - carbon and biomass: feedback processes in the biogeochemical cycles of carbon, James C.G. Walker; Gaia's garden and BLAG's greenhouse - global biogenochemical climate regulation, Lee R. Kump and Tyler Volk; tectonics, carbon, life, and climate for the last three biollion years: a unified system?, Thomas R. Worsley et al; quantitative evolution of global biomass through time - biological and geochemical constraints, Manfred Schidlowski; land biota, source or sink of atmospheric carbon dioxide - positive and negative feedbacks within a changing climate and land use development, G.H. Kohlmaier et al; a geophysiological model for glacial-interglacial oscillations in the carbon and phosphorous cycles, Andrew J. Watson and Linda Maddock; peatland formation and ice ages - a possible Gaian mechanism related to community succession, Lee F. Klinger.(Part contents).

About the Author

Stephen H. Schneider was Melvin and Joan Lane Professor for Interdisciplinary Environmental Studies and Professor of Biology at Stanford University. He was also Coordinating Lead Author of the IPCC's working group on Impacts, Adaptation, and Vulnerability, from 1997 to 2001, and, with his IPCC colleagues, was awarded a joint Nobel Prize in 2007. He was the author or editor of many books, including Science as a Contact Sport: Inside the Battle to Save Earth's Climate and Scientists Debate Gaia: The Next Century (MIT Press, 2004). Dr. Penelope J. Boston is Director of the Cave and Karst Studies Program at New Mexico Institute of Mining and Technology and Associate Professor of Earth and Environmental Studies.