What is life? It's not an easy question to answer, that's for sure. Most of us have a general idea of what it
means to be alive. We know ourselves to be living, breathing, creatures. We know we need to sustain
ourselves with energy, through our food sources (or the supermarket).
Relative to inanimate objects we are alive. The chair I sit in at my desk is certainly not alive. The tree
outside my window is alive. I can see it grow and change as its climate changes, I can even look under a
microscope at a sample of its cells in a leaf. If plucked early enough from its branches, I may be able to
see the movement of tiny organelles, facilitating the flow of nutrients though a complex system of cells and
veins. Such experiments on my chair would not reveal such activity. James Lovelock would not agree
with all the above assertions. Lovelock is the founder of a highly debated theory about earth science and
biology called the Gaia hypothesis. Lovelock would posit that my chair, I, my desk, the tree outside my
window, and the very air I breathe are all part of a living organism called Gaia. The Gaia hypothesis
attempts to prove that the air, waters, rock, and life on Earth are all interconnected. An answer to
scientists who study biology without concerning themselves with the effects of climate on life and vice
versa, the Gaia hypothesis is a grand synthesis of the climate and life of Earth. What is life? Lovelock
might say, "You're looking at it.
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