James Lovelock much beloved by the environmental lobby for his Gaia hypothesis that the Earth is itself a living organism, has died aged 103. He was a brilliant but idiosyncratic scientist, who left behind a treasure trove of inventions and discoveries ranging from microwaves ovens he developed in the 1950s to instruments detecting damage to the ozone layer from CFCs which were later banned. His Gaia theory was popularised by a series of books, and benefited from the catchy name suggested by his friend and neighbour writer William Golding, an improvement he thought on the original name, Earth System Science. The scientific community initially threw their hands up in horror but it gradually became accepted wisdom and he was described as “the most important and original scientific thinker in the world.
Though he was not always enamoured of his fans. “The Greens have become so fanatical,” he complained in later life. “I feel the Green attacks on the airlines particularly half-baked; all this stuff about carbon footprints is hogwash. Greens can be such Nazis.” Although he is publicly associated with earth-centric activism, he had wide ranging interests and worked as a consultant for the Ministry of Defence, producing James Bond Q-type ideas.
He was born 26 July 1919 2pm (biography) Letchworth, England into an inauspicious family and did not excel at school, though he invented from early on, including a working short-wave radio receiver from scraps of wire, jam jars and pencils.
His chart has two talented Grand Trines, one Fire and one Water. The Fire Grand Trine of a visionary Sun Neptune in Leo conjunct Jupiter in Cancer trine a Sagittarius North Node trine Chiron is a touch oblique but would certainly plug him into the spirit of the age and healing. Fire is inspirational, self-assured, attention-seeking and rarely doubts the rightness of their views.
His creative, healing Water Grand Trine of Uranus trine Pluto trine a Scorpio Ascendant would allow him to live in his own bubble of reality which with a status-quo upsetting Uranus trine Pluto would help in introducing new ideas. His Mercury in Leo conjunct Saturn opposed Uranus which would also give him a sharp, outspoken approach. He was definitely a think-out-of-the-box type
He also had a Mars Pluto conjunction in Cancer which is ultra-determined though it would give him a tendency to catastrophise as well. His 2006 book Revenge of Gaia predicted average global temperatures will rise by 8C and that much of the world will be uninhabitable by 2100. Scary.
His global reputation 22nd harmonic is strong as is his leaving a legacy 17H. His most notable is his breakthrough-genius 13H which makes sense. His creative 5H and 7H are also well aspected.
A man before his time.
A gem of a mind
Very interesting especially about fire in a chart being inspirational. Thank you
A once in a generation scientist/innovator. I suspect his reputation in 50-100 years will be further enhanced.
What a multi-talented individual he was – a ‘think out of the box type’ as you rightly say. I feel we need many more scientists like him now – questioning dogma with open minds, and not pushing everything towards proving a hypothesis while ignoring anything inconveniently anomalous.
I wondered about minor planet Ceres in his chart, since she’s the Roman agricultural goddess. Her myth involves the creation of a barren landscape (winter) when her beloved daughter Prosperina is first abducted by Pluto, and subsequently has to spend half the year in the underworld every year. I equated the rage and grief of Ceres’ myth with Lovelock’s personification of Gaia as a living organism, capable of revenge.
So it is satisfying, astrologically, to see Ceres at 5 Aries, conjunct Chiron and square to her “enemy”, Pluto, in Cancer. I keep an open mind on the significance of minor planets and asteroids, but often notice how they appear in a chart to underline it’s messages and themes.