Lynn Margulis - Meetup Presentation by Jim Laurie

Lynn Margulis 1938 - 2011

Symbiogenesis “Her theories on the importance of symbiosis—close partnerships

between different life forms in nature - revolutionized our

thinking about how life evolves and how earth systems function.”

“Brilliant at every turn, she could learn a new language quite thoroughly in months,” “She could quickly digest difficult science concepts and then be able to translate these for others.” - Douglas Zook @ Boston University, 2011

“Life did not take over the globe by combat, but by networking” — Lynn Margulis

“The evolution of the eukaryotic cells was the single most important event in the history of the organic world,” said Ernst Mayr, the leading evolutionary biologist of the last century. “Margulis’s contribution to our understanding the symbiotic factors was of enormous importance.”

Gaia

Lynn Margulis - Symbiosis is a key to evolution.

5 Kingdoms

“Gaia” The Self-Organizing

Planetary Ecosystems regulate

planet temperature, ocean salinity,

atmospheric oxygen, and many more.

Jim Lovelock and

Lynn Margulis

Sorin Sonea - Bacteria don’t have species!

1983 Prokaryotology 2001

Baytown Marsh Lab Results

In Out

Ammonia, ppm 20.51 1.07

(NH3)

Chloroform, ppb 14.4 0.3

(CHCl3)

BPA, ppb 513 7

(hormone disruptor)

Anoxic Oceans - H2SOcean Methane Release

Biodiverse Past 200 years ago ?

1000 years ago ? 10,000 yrs ago ?

NOW Extinction Episode

Anoxic Oceans > > Sulfur Extinction

(Peter Ward)

Methane Ice > atmosphere - Very Hot!

(Reg Morrison)

Biodiversity Returns Photosynthesis, Humification

Infiltration, Transpiration Cover the Ground, Grazing

Microbes, Fungi, Dung Beetles Beaver, A Conscious Humanity

(Margulis, Todd, Savory, C. Jones, Stamets, Ingham, Shepard, Mitchell-Innes, Judy, Shinn)

What Future do

You Prefer?

“When you understand the power of self-organization, you begin to understand why biologists worship biodiversity even

more than economists worship technology.”

“Hierarchical Systems evolve from the bottom up. The purpose of the upper layers of the hierarchy

is to serve the purposes of the lower layers.”

from Thinking in Systems by Donella Meadows

Places to Intervene in a System12. Numbers - “Mostly, the numbers are not worth the sweat put into them”

(I’ll skip a few.)

4. Self-Organizing Systems (John Todd & Eco-Machines)

3. Goals (What do you want? - Allan Savory & HM) 2. Paradigms (Lynn Margulis - Microbial Symbiosis)

1. Transforming Paradigms (questioning your own beliefs and paradigms)

Paul Stamets