James Ephraim Lovelock

James Ephraim Lovelock was born in Letchworth Garden City, Hertfordshire. A lifelong independent scientist, he earned a chemistry degree from the University of Manchester and a PhD in medicine from the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine in 1948, working for twenty years at the National Institute for Medical Research.

In 1957, Lovelock invented the electron capture detector (ECD), an extraordinarily sensitive device that detected minute chemical residues. In the late 1960s, using his ECD aboard a research vessel, he discovered the global persistence of chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs) in the atmosphere, providing the empirical foundation for Molina and Rowland's discovery of the ozone hole. In the 1970s, while consulting for NASA's Viking Mars mission, Lovelock collaborated with microbiologist Lynn Margulis to formulate the Gaia hypothesis: that living organisms interact with inorganic surroundings to form a synergistic, self-regulating complex system that maintains conditions for life on Earth. Appointed a Companion of Honour in 2003, Lovelock passed away on his 103rd birthday.