James Lovelock lives with his wife, Sandy, in an old coastguard's cottage less than 100 metres from Chesil beach in Dorset. To reach it, you have to drive along a rough, mile-long road, which in stretches has collapsed because of the winter storms that pounded the shingle spit. You must have had a devastating winter, I say when I eventually find the cottage. Not devastating, he insists, despite having been cut off by floods for four days, fascinating. Which sums up Jim Lovelock perfectly. The inventor/scientist/environmentalist is captivated by and curious about everything, which is why at 94 he radiates joie de vivre. He is the youngest 94-year-old you could ever hope to meet.
His new book, A Rough Ride to the Future, is part memoir of his long life in science and part prediction of whether humankind can survive. I had intended to ask him whether it was a final testament, but the question dies in my throat. He so obviously doesn't plan his life that way. He has mastered the art of getting old by not giving it a moment's thought.
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