The most important book ever to be published on the environmental crisis ... Lovelock will go down in history as the scientist who changed our view of the Earth.

Our future is like that of the passengers on a small pleasure boat sailing quietly above the Niagara Falls, not knowing that the engines are about to fail ...

For thousands of years, humans have exploited the planet without counting the cost. Now Gala, the living Earth, is fighting back.This is the one book you must read to find out what is happening,how bad it will get - and how we might yet survive.

 List of Illustrations

 Acknowledgements

 Foreword by Sir Crispin Tickell

1 The State of the Earth

2 What is Gaia?

3 The Life History of Gaia

4 Forecasts for the Twenty-first Century

5 Sources of Energy

6 Chemicals, Food and Raw Materials

7 Technology for a Sustainable Retreat

8 A Personal View of Environmentalism

9 Beyond the Terminus

 Glossary

 Further Reading

 Index