James Lovelock called his first proposal the ''Gaia hypothesis'' but has also used the term ''Gaia theory''. Lovelock states that the initial formulation was based on observation, but still lacked a scientific explanation. The Gaia hypothesis has since been supported by a number of scientific experiments<ref name="J1990">{{cite journal | author = J. E. Lovelock | title = Hands up for the Gaia hypothesis | date = 1990 | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 344 | issue = 6262 | pages = 100–2 | doi = 10.1038/344100a0|bibcode = 1990Natur.344..100L | ref = harv}}</ref> and provided a number of useful predictions.<ref name="Volk2003">{{cite book |author=Volk, Tyler |title=Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-262-72042-7 }}</ref> In fact, wider research proved the original hypothesis wrong, in the sense that it is not life alone but the whole Earth system that does the regulating.<ref name="vanishing255"/> | James Lovelock called his first proposal the ''Gaia hypothesis'' but has also used the term ''Gaia theory''. Lovelock states that the initial formulation was based on observation, but still lacked a scientific explanation. The Gaia hypothesis has since been supported by a number of scientific experiments<ref name="J1990">{{cite journal | author = J. E. Lovelock | title = Hands up for the Gaia hypothesis | date = 1990 | journal = [[Nature (journal)|Nature]] | volume = 344 | issue = 6262 | pages = 100–2 | doi = 10.1038/344100a0|bibcode = 1990Natur.344..100L | ref = harv}}</ref> and provided a number of useful predictions.<ref name="Volk2003">{{cite book |author=Volk, Tyler |title=Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth |publisher=[[MIT Press]] |location=Cambridge, Massachusetts |date=2003 |isbn=978-0-262-72042-7 }}</ref> In fact, wider research proved the original hypothesis wrong, in the sense that it is not life alone but the whole Earth system that does the regulating.<ref name="vanishing255"/> |