CONTRIBUTIONS OF

PERSONALITIES/PEOPLE ON
THE UNDERSTANDING OF
THE EARTH SYSTEMS
Earth and life science
• Contributions of personalities or people like
James Hutton, Alexander von Humboldt, Vladimir
Vernadsky, James Lovelock, and Lynn Margulis
have built the foundations on understanding the
earth systems. Their deep knowledge about the
other fields of sciences have made an impact to
the way we comprehend our unique planet.
James Hutton
James Hutton
• who is considered the father of geology,
has observed the shape of land by different
forces through farming. He was the one
who used the concept of uniformitarianism
about the similarities of past and present
geological forces like volcanic eruptions
and erosion which determine the history of
earth through rocks.
Alexander von Humboldt
Alexander von Humboldt
• a geographer, who observed nature
and recognized the patterns revealing
basic processes, like the transfer of
heat in ocean currents and the effect
of temperature on plants and their
growth.
Vladimir Vernadsky
Vladimir Vernadsky
• who is one of the founders of
geochemistry, made a theory about the
development of earth in three phases. First
phase is geosphere, second is biosphere
and third is noosphere. He popularized
noosphere which is the sphere of human
consciousness.
James Lovelock
James Lovelock
• an environmentalist, explained the earth as
self-regulating system through Gaia
hypothesis. As an example, he mentioned
the photosynthetic bacteria that lived during
Precambrian period. He added that the said
bacteria altered the atmosphere of the
earth making it oxygen-enriched.
Lynn Margulis
Lynn Margulis
• an evolutionary theorist, has advanced the Gaia
hypothesis of James Lovelock. She concluded
that atmospheric gases came from biological
sources like bacteria which give off gases.
Margulis and Lovelock worked together in
publishing a paper which explains how life
normalizes the chemical composition and
temperature of the atmosphere, as well as, the
soil.