INTRO
Gaia is the name the ancient Greeks gave to their Goddess of the Earth.
Other early religions had similar female figures, who like Gaia were at once gentle, feminine and nurturing, but also ruthlessly cruel to those who transgressed.
The scientific Gaia theory sees the Earth as a physiological system that is, in a sense, alive, at least to the extent that the climate and chemical composition of the surface are self-regulated at a state favorable for life.
The system is made up from all living organisms and their material environment, which comprises the atmosphere, the oceans and the crystal rocks. It seemed appropriate therefore to name the theory Gaia.
The more so since, like her mythical image, the theory sees the Earth to be regulated by an evolutionary process that is merciless to those species that affect the environment in a manner unfavorable for their progeny.
GAIA as Metaphor
Based on the Lovelock/Margulis hypothesis and on the cybernetic thinking that spawned it, "Gaia" has become a widely used metaphor for the emerging philosophical and ethical perspective that emphasizes humanity's embeddedness in, and dependence upon, the natural world.
It denotes a systemic, cross-disciplinary, ecological approach to thinking about human culture as a part of nature, rather than apart from it.
GAIA as a Model
Developed in the 1970's by biochemist James Lovelock and microbiologist Lynn Margulis, the Gaia hypothesis suggests that the processes of life itself have shaped, and continue to maintain, the thermal, geographic, and atmospheric conditions that sustain life. Life and the Earth have coevolved in a single closely coupled feedback system.
GAIA as a Movement
What used to be called the "environmental movement" is rapidly evolving into a Gaia movement, global in scope, that includes but transcends traditional environmentalism.
The Gaia movement calls for a fundamental shift in the priorities of western (and now global) culture from a relentlessly parasitic civilization based on endless, non sustainable economic "growth" at the expense of nature towards a sustainable world order based on ecological principles and respect for both natural and cultural diversity.
GAIA as Myth
The Ancient Greek name for the all-nurturing and all-consuming Earth-Mother-Goddess, the oldest of their deities; a goddess with analogues in virtually every culture on Earth, suggesting that most human cultures (at least until ours) had an intuitive sense of participating in a living, breathing ecology.