Margulis, Lynn

Margulis, Lynn (Alexander)

(1938–  ) cell biologist; born in Chicago. She taught and performed research at Boston University (1966–88), and became a Distinguished University Professor at the University of Massachusetts (Amherst) (1988). She made major contributions to the origin, morphogenesis, cytoplasmic genetics, and evolution of slime molds and other protists. She is a proponent of the controversial Gaia hypothesis, which views planet Earth as a homeostatic physicochemical system whose surface is actively influenced by the actions of all living organisms.

The Cambridge Dictionary of American Biography, by John S. Bowman. Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1995. Reproduced with permission.