If there were a billion people living on the planet, we could do whatever we please. But there are nearly seven billion. At this scale, life as we kn… - James Lovelock

Challenging the conventional wisdom is the way to make waves in science.

If you were an artist or novelist, or a poet or somebody like that, nobody would think it odd if you worked in your own home. In science there's none of this at all. I'm almost the only independent scientist in Britain. Everybody else works in large institutions, universities, or industrial labs. Why should one expect scientists to work that way?

Even the best democracies agree that when a major war approaches, democracy must be put on hold for the time being. I have a feeling that climate change may be an issue as severe as a war. It may be necessary to put democracy on hold for a while.