James is the originator of the >Gaia Hypothesis (now >Gaia Theory) and has written three books on the subject: Gaia: a new look at life on Earth; The Ages of Gaia; Gaia: the practical science of planetary medicine; and an autobiography, Homage to Gaia.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974 and in 1975 received the Tswett Medal for Chromatography. Earlier he received a CIBA Foundation Prize for research into Ageing.
In 1980 he received the American Chemical Society's award for Chromatography and in 1986 the Silver Medal and Prize of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. In 1988 he was a recipient of the Norbert Gerbier Prize of the World Meteorological Organization, and in 1990 was awarded the first Amsterdam Prize for the Environment by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 1996 he received the Volvo Prize for the Environment and in 1997 the Blue Planet Prize. He has received honorary Doctorates in Science from the University East Anglia 1982, Exeter University 1988, Plymouth Polytechnic (now Plymouth University) 1988, Stockholm University 1991, University of Edinburgh 1993, University of Kent 1996 and the University of Colorado (at Boulder) 1997. He was made a C.B.E. in 1990, and in 2003 a Companion of Honour by Her Majesty the Queen.
He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 1974 and in 1975 received the Tswett Medal for Chromatography. Earlier he received a CIBA Foundation Prize for research into Ageing.
In 1980 he received the American Chemical Society's award for Chromatography and in 1986 the Silver Medal and Prize of the Plymouth Marine Laboratory. In 1988 he was a recipient of the Norbert Gerbier Prize of the World Meteorological Organization, and in 1990 was awarded the first Amsterdam Prize for the Environment by the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences.
In 1996 he received the Volvo Prize for the Environment and in 1997 the Blue Planet Prize. He has received honorary Doctorates in Science from the University East Anglia 1982, Exeter University 1988, Plymouth Polytechnic (now Plymouth University) 1988, Stockholm University 1991, University of Edinburgh 1993, University of Kent 1996 and the University of Colorado (at Boulder) 1997. He was made a C.B.E. in 1990, and in 2003 a Companion of Honour by Her Majesty the Queen.
James' first interest is the Life Sciences, originally as Medical Research but more recently in Geophysiology, the systems science of the Earth. His second interest that of instrument design and development, has often interacted with the first to their mutual benefit.
He has been since 1994 an Honorary Visiting Fellow of Green College, University of Oxford.