Canongate snaps up biography of 'groundbreaking scientist' Lovelock

Canongate has snapped up The Many Lives of James Lovelock, a biography of the global figure in modern environmentalism, as confided by him to journalist Jonathan Watts.

Simon Thorogood, editorial director, acquired world rights from Sophie Lambert at C&W and Canongate will publish in hardback, e-book and audiobook in September 2024, with a paperback to follow.

Lovelock invented the technology that found the hole in the ozone layer. He also discovered the Gaia Theory, which refers to the idea that life on Earth was once "a self-sustaining system in which animals, plants, forests and sea life interact with the atmosphere, land and sea to maintain a habitable ecosystem".

As well as a scientist, Lovelock was also an environmentalist, NASA engineer and a spy, among other things. The book’s synopsis says: "Based on over 80 hours of interviews with Lovelock and unprecedented access to his personal papers and scientific archive, Jonathan Watts has written a definitive and revelatory biography of this fascinating, sometimes contradictory man."

Watts is a journalist based in the Amazon rainforest in Brazil. He is global environment editor at the Guardian and founder of the Rainforest Journalism Fund and an Amazon-centred news website, Sumauma. He said: “James Lovelock transformed our understanding of the climate by proving that life on Earth creates the atmosphere above and around us. This discovery has never been more important, nor more relevant than now as the world searches for a solution to runaway global heating.

"Even Lovelock’s millions of followers will be surprised at how this momentous scientific breakthrough was inspired by a love affair and Cold War spying.”

Thorogood added: "Jonathan Watts has brought his journalist skill, and his extensive access to Lovelock to write a fascinating, multi-layered biography. Here is a whole life, and what a fascinating life it is."