James Lovelock’s autobiography follows his life as an independent scientist. From his childhood in east London to his first steps as a scientist, his work with organisations as diverse as the Ministry of Defence, NASA, Shell and the Marine Biological Association. Homage to Gaia describes the years of travel and work that led to Lovelock’s crucial scientific breakthroughs in environmental awareness. From Lovelock’s discovery of how CFCs are distributed globally and their impact on the ozone layer to his concept of Gaia, the theory that Earth is a self-regulating system. Essential, if at times uncomfortable, reading for anyone interested in the interaction between science and the environment and the personal account of one of the most extraordinary lives of the twentieth-century.