Lovelock

[oldjerry]

Half hour special on R4 this morning on the old fella.Warts n'all.Should be on the I player by now,think it was called the 'life scientific' or something equally Salfordish,any how,well worth a listen,the old guy can't live for ever..

[British Red]

I do like Lovelock

"Legislation based on Green pressure is not good science"

On climate change, he believes it's too late for mankind to save the planet.

I agree with him

[MKG]

Brilliant, brilliant man - but I think it's a shame that he's forever associated only with the Gaia principle when he's done so much other work. I've always wanted the Gaia stuff to be true but, in common with a host of other nice-sounding stuff, we can't always have our wishes.

However - we could do with a few more like him.

Mike

[gregorach]

Oh well, I guess it's up to me to provide the counterpoint... I can't bloody stand Lovelock these days. I mean, when was the last time he actually did any science? As far as I can tell, he was doing science when he got sidetracked with the whole "Gaia" thing (which is a nice enough idea, but not actually scientifically meaningful as he formulated it), worked that into a couple of very lucrative book deals, and then spent the rest of his career talking utter bollocks about bits of other people's scientific work which he blatantly doesn't understand, and getting taken seriously for it.

He's gone emeritus. Only difference is, most emeriti actually did some good work once... If Lovelock did, I don't know what it was.

[British Red]

He's gone emeritus. Only difference is, most emeriti actually did some good work once... If Lovelock did, I don't know what it was.

He invented the electron capture detector - and was responsible for the detection of CFCs in the polar atmosphere paving the way for Roland and Molinas Nobel prize winning research into photolysis of CFCs depleting the ozone layer

[gregorach]

Fair enough.

[MKG]

Oh well, I guess it's up to me to provide the counterpoint... I can't bloody stand Lovelock these days. I mean, when was the last time he actually did any science? As far as I can tell, he was doing science when he got sidetracked with the whole "Gaia" thing (which is a nice enough idea, but not actually scientifically meaningful as he formulated it), worked that into a couple of very lucrative book deals, and then spent the rest of his career talking utter bollocks about bits of other people's scientific work which he blatantly doesn't understand, and getting taken seriously for it.

He's gone emeritus. Only difference is, most emeriti actually did some good work once... If Lovelock did, I don't know what it was.

For a few hours there, I thought we'd lost you, Dunc

Mike

[gregorach]

Big weekend.