Dictionary.net

Gaia is the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth. A metaphor, a concept, not a proven fact, that our Earth is an aware, self-regulating entity (giant cell?) that adjusts to changes and catastrophes in an 'intelligent' and holistic manner. The concept states that Earth tweaks the planet environment to mitigate step-wise changes and sudden impacts, involving biological and geological processes collaboratively. The UK scientist Dr. James E. Lovelock (1919) postulated this in 1968. In 1957 he invented the Electron Capture Detector to detect trace quantities of hazardous substances like chlorofluorocarbons and polychlorinated biphenyls in the environment.