With Jonathan Watts, the Global environmental correspondent for The Guardian and author of “The Many Lives of James Lovelock: Science, Secrets and Gaia Theory”
Saturday 9 th August 2025
12noon – 2pm
EVENT INFORMATION
James Lovelock is best known for his association with the Gaia Hypothesis - which proposed that living organisms interact with their surroundings to create a self-regulating system and thereby maintain conditions suitable for life on Earth. This event will look at his life and legacy and whether Lovelock’s pioneering environmental work offers us guidance now.
As with the previous eco-pioneers investigated in this series (Rachel Carson, Barry Commoner, Ian McHarg, Sherry Arnstein and Fritz Schumacher) Lovelock influenced a generation. Lovelock perhaps uniquely also spawned a vast array of Gaia related businesses from coffee shops, to research institutes and even big pharma. Amongst the earliest were Gaia Architects in Scotland and Norway.
The Eco Max series is dedicated to Howard Liddell who was the founder and principal of Gaia Architects from 1990 until his death at the age of 67 in 2013. Howard book Eco-minimalism: the Antidote to Eco-Bling (2008, 2013 was always intended to be the first half of the story. He was aiming to write a further book Eco-Max based on the legacy of his eco-heroes. His widow, Sandy Liddell Halliday, founded and sponsors this series of talks, in collaboration with the Scottish Ecological Design Association, of which Howard was a founder member.
Lovelock remains a controversial figure, a uniquely gifted independent scientist, inventor and thinker who, amongst other things, invented the electron capture detector that allowed him to detect the widespread presence of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere. He infuriated many of his Gaia-fan followers by his abiding techno-optimistic approach, including his support for nuclear power and space travel.
Jon Watts, the global environmental correspondent for the Guardian, was given unique access to author Lovelock’s official biography. He will present an overview and there will be a structured interview ollowed by an open Q& A session and a book signing.
Please book early so that we can get a clear idea of numbers.