Gaia: Argument over a single word Essay -- Essays Papers

germanium Argument over a single word thesis feel on earth has been considered by some as a purposeful interaction tending toward ecological stability. However, when the scientific community direct by James Lovelock tried to match this concept with science, it was (and continues to be) a dilemma. ledger entryWhenever one try ons the word atomic number 32, he or she will also hear life, goddess, purpose, ecology, and undoubtedly lean. Not many topics have provoked more controversy among the scientific community than the idea that the air travel, biosphere, and its living organisms behave as a single system, striving to main(prenominal)tain a stability that is conducive to the institution of lifethe so-called Gaia theory or Gaia hypothesis.The main controversy lies in the fact that the name Gaia comes from an ancient classical goddess (M early(a) Earth). Since Gaias origins, it seems as if she was the most venerated among the Greek gods Free of pay or destruction, of time or space, form or condition, is the Void. From the eternal Void, Gaia danced forth and rolled herself into a spinning ball. She molded mountains along her spine, valleys in the hollows of her flesh. Unceasingly the Earth Mother manifested gifts on her surface and accepted the terminal into her body. In return, she was revered by all mortals. From within the darkness of her secrets, Gaia received their gifts (Spretnak 47-48).The powerful magnet of the theory is that Gaia is a unproblematic four-letter word that implies feminism and ecology, two aspects that do not fit in rational science. Had the proponents called the theory A cybernetic system with homeostatic tendencies as detected by chemical anomalies in the earths atmosphereas Lovelock intended to call it, the idea may not ha... ...cated matters (as Gaia) passim history, and the human race has been able to decide whether or not exploitation them is a good technique. There are truths to be discovered and slipway of explaining them to be deployed. Humans are not the center of the universe. Nor is any other species.Lynn MargulisWorks CitedBjornerud Marcia. Gaia-Gender and Scientific Representations of the Earth Part 1 of 2 Contemporary Womens Database Sep. 1997 96-106.Linden, Eugene. Ideas How the Earth Maintains liveness an Intriguing Scientific Theory Continues to Win Adherents. Time 13 Nov. 1989 114.Lutzenberg, Jose. Gaias Fever. The Ecologist Mar.-Apr. 1999 59.Margulis, Lynn. Life on Earth Doesnt Need Us. Independent 02 Sep. 1998 5.Spretnak, Charlene. Lost Goddesses of Early Greece A Collection of Pre-Hellenic Myths. Boston Beacon Press, 1984.