Near the end of the book, there’s an image of Lovelock talking and praying to this “Ma Ga” (Mother Gaia). He was 69 and newly in love with a woman called Sandra, who was to be his second wife.

Out of this swirling void the first beings emerged. The most powerful of these beings was Gaia - the Earth mother. She created the land, the seas, the mountains and trees. She fell in love with ...