| 释义 |
Gaia, n.
Brit. |ˈgʌɪə|, U.S. |ˈgaɪə|
[‹ ancient Greek γαῖα the earth, also personification of the Earth and original mother of all beings, poetic form of γῆ the earth (see geo- comb. form).
According to Hesiod, Gaia was generated from primal Chaos (see chaos n. 2b) and produced the titan Uranus, personification of the sky (see Uranus n.), and with him begot further titans from whom in turn the gods descended.]
The global ecosystem, understood to function in the manner of a vast self-regulating organism, in the context of which all living things collectively define and maintain the conditions conducive to life on earth; (also) the theory which proposes this. Freq. attrib., esp. in Gaia hypothesis.
1972J. E. Lovelock in Atmos. Environm. 6 580 The concept of Gaia has..perhaps only recently..been distorted by anthropocentric rationalizations. 1974L. Margulis & J. E. Lovelock in Icarus Apr. 471 We review some recent information about the terrestrial atmosphere in the light of the ‘Gaia hypothesis’. 1989S. H. Schneider Global Warming (1990) iv. 74 When Gaia was first introduced, it was embraced..by what one might term ecofreaks. 1991D. Rowe Wanting Everything (1994) v. 171 We wonder whether, in adapting to the changes which the human species is making to the biosphere, Gaia might create a form of homeostasis which would be so inimical to our species that we, too, would become extinct. 1992N.Y. Rev. Bks. 13 Feb. 37/1 The Gaia hypothesis claims that the earth's atmosphere, oceans, climate, land, and living creatures are part of a giant feedback loop. 2005M. Bjornerud Reading Rocks i. 19 Even skeptics of the Gaia idea..acknowledge that it has inspired productive new lines of inquiry: biogeochemistry, geomicrobiology, and geophysiology.
Derivatives. Gaian n. and adj. (a) n. a proponent or supporter of the Gaia hypothesis; (b) adj. of, relating to, or characteristic of Gaia or Gaians.
1979Irish Times 28 Sept. 10/5 Kit Pedler..is chiefly concerned with how to be a practising *Gaian. 1979J. E. Lovelock Gaia ix. 145 From a Gaian viewpoint, all attempts to rationalize a subjugated biosphere with man in charge are..doomed to failure. 1992Skeptical Inquirer Fall 53/1 The Gaians..see a life-inspired order guiding the process of life's evolution of Earth. 2002J. Cohen & I. Stewart Evolving Alien vii. 158 Gaian evolution requires the fostering of heterogeneity, for example the diversification of life. |