James Ephraim Lovelock

, CH, CBE, FRS (born 26 July 1919) is an independent scientist, author, researcher, environmentalist, and futurist who lives in Devon, England. He is known for proposing the Gaia hypothesis, in which he postulates that the Earth functions as a kind of superorganism.
Biography
He was born in Letchworth Garden City in Hertfordshire, England , but moved to London where he was, by his own account, an unhappy pupil at StrandSchool.He studied chemistry at the University of Manchester, before taking up a Medical Research Council post at the Institute for Medical Research in London.His student status enabled temporary deferment of military serice during the Second World War, but he registered as a conscientious objector. He later abandoned this position in the light of Nazi atrocities and tried to enlist for war service, but was told that his medical research was too valuable for this to be considered.
Career
A lifelong inventor, Lovelock has created and developed many scientific instruments, some of which were designed for NASA in its programme of planetary exploration. It was while working as a consultant for NASA that Lovelock developed the Gaia Hypothesis, for which he is most widely known.