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Homeostatic Tendencies of the Earth’s Atmosphere

  • Chapter
Cosmochemical Evolution and the Origins of Life

Abstract

The atmosphere of the earth differs greatly from that of the other terrestrial planets with respect to composition, acidity, redox potential and temperature history predicted from solar luminosity. From the fossil record it can be deduced that stable optimal conditions for the biosphere have prevailed for thousands of millions of years. We believe that these properties of the terrestrial atmosphere are best interpreted as evidence of homeostasis on a planetary scale maintained by life on the surface. Some possible mechanisms of this biological homeostasis have been noted and the implications of this concept for experimental studies pointed out.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Applied Physical Science, University of Reading, Reading, England

    James E. Lovelock

  2. Dept. of Biology, Boston University, Boston, Mass., USA

    Lynn Margulis

Authors
  1. James E. Lovelock
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  2. Lynn Margulis
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biophysical Sciences and Chemistry, University of Houston, Houston, Texas, USA

    J. Oró

  2. Universidad Autónoma de Barcelona, Barcelona, Spain

    J. Oró

  3. Department of Chemistry, University of California, San Diego, California, USA

    S. L. Miller

  4. Laboratory of Chemical Evolution, Department of Chemistry, University of Maryland, College Park, Maryland, USA

    C. Ponnamperuma

  5. NASA, Washington, D.C., USA

    R. S. Young (Head of Planetary Biology) (Head of Planetary Biology)

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© 1974 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Lovelock, J.E., Margulis, L. (1974). Homeostatic Tendencies of the Earth’s Atmosphere. In: Oró, J., Miller, S.L., Ponnamperuma, C., Young, R.S. (eds) Cosmochemical Evolution and the Origins of Life. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-1118-6_7

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-1118-6_7

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-015-1120-9

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-1118-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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