Written by ecologist Stephan Harding, Animate Earth argues that humans need to establish the right relationship with the planet as a living entity in which they are indissolubly embedded—and to which they are all accountable. Harding’s work is based on careful integration of rational scientific analysis with human intuition, sensing and feeling—a vitally important task at this time of severe ecological and climate crisis. He replaces what he considers the cold, objectifying language of science with a way of speaking of the planet as a sentient, living being rather than as a dead, inert mechanism. Chemical reactions, for instance, are described using human metaphors, such as marriage, to bring personality back into the world of rocks, atmosphere, water and living things. In this sense, the book is a contemporary attempt to rediscover anima mundi (the soul of the world) through Gaian science, whilst assuming no prior knowledge of science.