Aspects of the Gaia Hypothesis in Frank Herbert's Dune

Masaryk University Faculty of Arts

Department of English and American Studies

English Language and Literature

Petr Bělohrad

Aspects of the Gaia Hypothesis in Frank Herbert’s Dune Bachelor’s Diploma Thesis

Supervisor: Jeffrey Alan Smith, M.A., Ph. D.

2016

I declare that I have worked on this thesis independently, using only the primary and secondary sources listed in the bibliography.

…………………………………………….. Author’s signature Table of Contents

1 Introduction ...... 1

2 Dune in literary context ...... 4

2.1 Science fiction’s hidden potential ...... 4

2.2 Story of Dune ...... 7

2.3 Significance of Dune ...... 9

3 Lovelock’s alternative ...... 16

3.1 Birth of Gaia ...... 16

3.2 Of planets and daisies ...... 19

4 Dune as a Gaian planet ...... 21

4.1 Self-sustainability of a desert ...... 21

4.2 Planetary house of cards ...... 29

4.3 Struggle for perfection ...... 33

5 Conclusion ...... 37

Works Cited ...... 39

Summary ...... 42

Resumé ...... 43

1 Introduction

The reason I decided to write about this topic is that Dune, a novel by an

American science fiction author Frank Herbert, will always have a special place in my heart. With his narrative following an educational route instead of cheap sensationalism, Herbert challenged literary conventions of contemporary science fiction. Dune, among other sources, made me aware of the present ecological issues and Earth’s climatic change. In this thesis I will aim to analyze

Herbert’s Dune, identify important ecological ideas and then compare them to a rather controversial theory in a field of ecology – the Gaia hypothesis.

Like generations upon generations of science fiction enthusiasts, I also fell in love with Herbert’s critically acclaimed story about the desert planet

Arrakis, betrayal and revenge, grand battles, intrigue, politics and the mysterious sandworms. First published in 1965, Dune became one of the best- selling science fiction novels and new editions are still being published to this day, which serves as a proof of its timelessness.

The novel was followed by five sequels, of which none was as successful as the first installment of the series. After Frank Herbert’s death, his son Brian followed in his father’s footsteps and, together with Kevin J. Anderson, expanded the Dune universe with prequels and side stories.

Herbert addressed many topics in Dune, the most memorable of which, although not intentionally, was ecology. After years’ worth of research, he created a complex world with its own biomes, ecosystems, memorable characters, traditions and languages inspired by the real world cultures. Arrakis

1 is a fully fledged and functional planet and in many respects comparable to the

Earth. Even though Arrakis is almost completely covered in sand with a little to no biodiversity, it is still a life-bearing planet. That is possible thanks to a complex Gaian system, which keeps the planet alive.

The Gaia hypothesis, a brainchild of the British chemist James Lovelock, postulates that the living conditions on the Earth are being sustained by the life itself and compares Earth to a self-sustaining superorganism controlled by cybernetic systems. This hypothesis was quickly dismissed by the scientific community as a pseudo-esoteric “New Age” theory that has nothing to do with serious science. While certainly controversial, the Gaia hypothesis offers a different point of view from which to look on the life on Earth or Arrakis.

Even though Lovelock and Herbert most likely never met in person (or at least I did not find any mention of it during my research) and Dune actually predates Lovelock’s first book on Gaia, the similarity of Gaia to Arrakis is, I believe, not coincidental.

Bruce Clark used Dune as an example of a Gaian planet in Earth, Life, and System and discussed how it is perceived in its universe. Additionally,

Lovelock admits that his work was inspired by research of other like-minded scientists that preceded him, the oldest one dating back to 1785 (Lovelock,

Gaia 18). Herbert’s research into the Earth’s ecosystems might have lead him to some of these works.

This thesis is divided into three distinct chapters. The first chapter called

“Dune in literary context” provides some insight into the history of “serious science fiction” from its roots in 1920s magazines to the “New Wave” of the

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1950s and 1960s. Additionally it offers a brief story synopsis of Dune – necessary for a full comprehension of the discussion in the third chapter – and an overview of the most important themes that can be found in the novel.

The second chapter labeled “Lovelock’s alternative” describes the Gaia theory and the process of its evolution from a rather esoteric concept, often mistaken for a religion, to a passable scientific theory. It also includes a short passage about Daisyworld – a computer model of an ideal Gaian planet.

The third chapter, “Dune as a Gaian planet”, uses Lovelock’s three-point definition of Gaia as a guideline and compares Dune’s systems and properties to those of Gaia as described by Lovelock with the emphasis on cybernetics of

Dune and the processes of a planetary self-sustainability.

This thesis uses a comparative analysis of Lovelock’s Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth and Herbert’s Dune, with occasional addition of other relevant sources. The majority of the resources are in electronic format, usually as PDF files or Kindle editions of books. Because I own only the first three books of the original Dune series (as the printed English copies are very hard to get in Czech

Republic), any additional story information beyond Children of Dune provided in this thesis comes from the Dune Wikia (listed in the works cited), which is an internet encyclopedia of the Dune universe maintained by the community of fans and book enthusiasts.

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2 Dune in literary context

Science fiction is still relatively young genre with almost unlimited creative potential. For a long time, science fiction was considered to be an uninteresting literature full of childish fantasies and cheap thrills as many authors and readers did not realize to what ends this genre could be used.

Indeed, the first science fiction stories originated from Victorian gothic fiction and mystery stories featured in shilling shockers and similar magazines.

Early works of science fiction could be divided into three categories as follows: space operas full of dashing heroes, deep space adventures and tales of romance; invasion stories pitting mankind against invaders both sentient and unintelligent; and science stories about time travel, robots and experiments going amiss.

2.1 Science fiction’s hidden potential

Up until 1920s, science fiction received little to no recognition as a separate genre. It was seen as a part of various other genres depending on the ratio of violence, mystery or adventure in the individual stories. Then, in 1926, the first issue of a magazine called Amazing Stories marked the rise of science fiction as a distinct genre with its own readership and fan base. Amazing Stories was the very first magazine dedicated entirely to science fiction published under the editorship of Hugo Gernsback. He preferred the scientifically plausible science fiction, which, as he admits in the editorial of the first issue of Amazing

Stories, had certain educational potential:

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[Amazing tales] supply knowledge that we might not otherwise obtain –

and they supply it in very palatable form. […] the best of these modern

writers of scientifiction [Gernsback’s name for science fiction] have the

knack of imparting knowledge […] without once making us aware that we

are being taught. (3)

Gernsback’s magazine attracted a sizable community of science fiction enthusiasts, writers and readers alike, who were able to exchange ideas and discuss printed stories. This was being done in the discussion sections of the

Amazing Stories. There, letters from readers would be printed, including names and cities of residence, so the readers could form localized groups and clubs.

Argument can be made that science fiction’s fans would have eventually gathered on their own. That may be true, but, as Gary Westfahl points out,

Gernsback considerably hastened this process (274). It is because of this and his other accomplishments, both as an editor and a writer, that one of the most prestigious literary awards for science fiction writers is named after Gernsback – the Hugo.

Another important figure in the early age of science fiction is undeniably

H.G. Wells, author of The War of the Worlds and The Island of Doctor Moreau.

Especially the latter novel is important because of its theme. Set on an island of vivisectionist Doctor Moreau, who creates animal and human mutants, it addressed questions about morality, religion and ethics in science. Wells was praised by Gernsback in the first issue of Amazing Stories (3) and his works influenced many future authors including Herbert.

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During 1930s and 1940s, two prominent authors of “serious science fiction” were Aldous Huxley and George Orwell. Brave New World and 1984 still told the stories about the future of the humanity but instead of focusing on gadgets and flashy technology, they focused on social themes such as morality, human fears, politics, and the overall evolution of society. They were political commentaries with science fiction elements rather than a pure science fiction.

That is especially apparent in Orwell’s 1984. Written as a reactionary novel, it expressed Orwell’s concerns about authoritarian regimes such as that of Nazi Germany. There was an alternative to the conventional science fiction of the first half of the twentieth century. In addition to being able to predict, science fiction was now able to react.

Most of the post-war science fiction reacted to the awe inspiring effects of the atomic bomb and their fears materialized in series of post-apocalyptic stories set in the milieu of a nuclear wasteland. Nevile Shute’s On the Beach and Brian W. Aldiss‘ Greybeard follow survivors of a man-made apocalypse and describe how they cope with their existence in a dying world. Other authors, like J.G. Ballard, chose ecological catastrophes as their world-destroying events.

In fact, Ballard preceded Herbert in utilizing ecological ideas in science fiction by a margin of three years. Ballard’s trilogy The Drowned World (1962),

The Burning World (1964) and The Crystal World (1966), addresses possible cataclysmic scenarios that would be devastating to both the life on Earth and human civilization. The Burning World (also known as The Drought) takes place on water-deprived Earth where toxic waste destroyed the precipitation cycle, setting very similar to Herbert’s Dune.

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There was a plethora of science fiction magazines in the United States alone before and after the Second World War. These formed the backbone of the science fiction community at the time as there was no internet. Most of the authors published their stories in one or more magazines on a regular basis as royalties from books would not usually be enough to support the author, let alone his entire family. For a long time, more than a decade, that would also be the case for Frank Herbert.

2.2 Story of Dune

Frank Herbert was an American science fiction writer, journalist and eco- activist who lived between 1920 and 1986. His major works include Under

Pressure, The Soul Catcher, The Eyes of Heisenberg, Destination: Void, The

Green Brain and many others. All of other Herbert’s works would, however, become overshadowed by his magnum opus Dune, published in 1965, and its five sequels which tell an overarching story about the desert planet Arrakis, its inhabitants and the Galactic Padishah Empire Arrakis is part of. The following summary could not, for the sake of brevity, possibly encompass all the important and delicate aspects of Dune, some of which will be discussed separately later, but it will provide context sufficient for this thesis.

Arrakis, frequently called Dune, is a desert planet with a relatively small population of native people known as the Fremen, who are mostly ignored by the imperial census. It is also the only planet in the entire universe where the most precious commodity – commonly known as “the spice” and a product of

Dune’s endemic sandworms – can be found.

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The spice is so important because not only it has healing properties and, when consumed regularly, prolongs life, but it has also potential to enhance its user’s awareness to superhuman levels. However, there is a catch – the spice is highly addictive and withdrawal means certain death.

Three major factions of the Empire depend on the availability of the spice – the Spacing Guild and its navigators who, mutated by the infusion of spice, can sense their way through space and safely navigate spaceships to their destinations; members of the Bene Gesserit Sisterhood who possess many borderline magical powers such as lie detection or the ability to control others using the power of the Voice; and the Noble Houses, which profit from shares in a spice trade company known as CHOAM.

The story begins when the Imperial fief of Dune is taken from the House of Baron Vladimir Harkonnen and given to the House Atreides. New masters of

Dune, Duke Leto Atreides, his concubine Lady Jessica of the Bene Gesserit and their sixteen-year-old son Paul Atreides, have to move from their ocean Earth- like planet Caladan to an entirely different world, where water is the scarcest resource. Duke Leto wisely decides to befriend the native Fremen and their leader Liet-Kynes, an imperial planetologist, in hopes of forging an alliance with them and using their supreme knowledge of the desert environment to his advantage.

However, before the House Atreides can fully seize the planet and finish the negotiations with the Fremen, the Harkonnens, with a support of

Sardaukar, the Emperor’s elite legionnaires, launch a sneak attack against the

8 citadel of the House Atreides. Duke Leto is captured by a traitor and killed, and

Lady Jessica and young Paul are forced to flee into the desert.

There they find sanctuary among the Fremen, who see in Paul a messiah from their legends. These legends were carefully planted into the Fremen populace by the Bene Gesserit. Paul, who becomes known as Muad’Dib, gains the trust of the Fremen people and rises as their new leader. With legions of elite death commandos of his own, the Fremen Fedaykin, he defeats the

Harkonnen and the Imperial troops, reclaims his throne and crowns himself the new Emperor.

Only a year after its first publication, Dune won the Hugo and the Nebula awards for the best science fiction novel of 1966 and “would sell tens of millions of copies” in the following years (B. Herbert 159). Such a tremendous success of a science fiction novel was something unheard-of up until that point. Arthur

C. Clarke compared Dune to The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien (F.

Herbert, Dune back cover) and this comparison is quite accurate. Just like

Tolkien built his Middle Earth on Anglo-Saxon legends, Herbert used Middle

Eastern and North African cultures to create “the vision of a future one might almost believe has already happened, a history stolen from its rightful place millennia hence” (O’Reilly np). In terms of scale and depth, only a very few works of fiction could compete with Herbert’s epic.

2.3 Significance of Dune

Dune is divided into three smaller parts called books (“Dune”,

“Muad’Dib”, “The Prophet”) with each of them having a very specific purpose.

In “Dune”, Atreides family arrives on Arrakis and young Paul learns much about

9 the planet and its people (as does the reader), “Muad’Dib” follows Paul’s life among the Fremen and his rise to power, and in “The Prophet”, he bests his enemies and leads the Fremen towards independence (Roberts 37-8). The books are followed by four appendices (discussing Dune’s ecology, its religions, the purpose of the Bene Gesserit and the important people respectively) and

“Terminology of the Imperium” – a dictionary providing necessary explanations for many terms and phrases Herbert uses throughout the book.

It is apparent from this description that Dune is a novel of considerable length and complexity. That dissuaded many publishers from accepting the story, as “most science-fiction novels at the time were only around 50,000–

75,000 words”, while Dune amounted to almost four times as much (F. Herbert,

The Road to Dune 209). The “delightful exception” was John W. Campbell, editor of the science fiction magazine Analog, who offered to serialize Dune almost immediately and whom Herbert held in high regard (F. Herbert, The

Road to Dune 209; B. Herbert 160).

Dune was quite different from the science fiction of the past. While the old science fiction novels focused on marvels of technology Herbert chose to forgo them and approach science fiction from a completely different angle. The story of Dune takes place far into the future, but the universe is closer to the medieval times.

Combat with swords and knives is common and preferred, as personal shields render most of the ranged weapons useless. The society of Dune is strongly feudal with a caste system called “fauferluches”. All advanced computers were destroyed during the event called The Butlerian Jihad, which

10 precedes events described in Dune, and artificial intelligence capable of thinking is now outlawed across the Imperium. Space travel is a rather semi-mystical process undertaken by spice-abusing navigators, and even Herbert himself does not provide much detail about it.

By weakening the influence of technology, Herbert could focus more on psychology of the characters and their development throughout the book. This made him one of the first authors in the “New Wave” movement which experimented with narrative styles and focused more on psychology and sociology as opposed to technology and science.

The many layers of Dune

That brings this discussion to the original inspiration for Dune. As

Herbert states in his article in OMNI magazine: “I conceived of a long novel, the whole trilogy as one book about the messianic convulsions that periodically overtake us. […] This grows from my theory that superheroes are disastrous for humankind” (“Dune Genesis” 72). The disastrous superhero of Dune is Paul

“Muad’Dib” Atreides.

After prolonged exposure to the ubiquitous spice, he gains the ability to see the future and discovers, that he is a result of a centuries-long process of careful planning and breeding by the Bene Gesserit order. His reflexes and self- awareness rise beyond levels of any average human being and he indeed becomes, as Campbell put it “a 15-year-old superman” (F. Herbert, The Road to

Dune 208).

The Fremen follow Paul with fanatical fervor because they see him as a messianic figure from the Bene Gesserit legends and his superhuman abilities

11 only add to this image of greatness. Herbert’s inspiration for this sort of a cult of personality came from leaders such as Hitler, Stalin, Mussolini or even

Churchill (F. Herbert, “Dune Genesis” 72). After hearing from his friend Irene

Slattery about her first-hand experience with Hitler’s rhetoric, Herbert came to a conclusion: “Heroes are dangerous, especially when people follow them slavishly, treating them like gods” (B. Herbert 59). Even as the Emperor, Paul

Atreides is unable to stop the holy war the fanatical Fremen carry out in his name.

The danger of powerful individuals and possible damage they might inflict on society was but one of many issues Herbert was trying to address in

Dune. “Yes, there are analogs in Dune of today's events,” he states in “Dune

Genesis”, “corruption and bribery in the highest places, […]. The scarce water of Dune is an exact analog of oil scarcity. CHOAM is OPEC” (73). Spice is also an analog to the oil on much grander scale.

Without the spice, the entire Imperium would collapse. Millions would die from the withdrawal effects, there would be no space travel, CHOAM would be out of business and Bene Gesserit mystics would lose most of their powers. The

Galactic Empire itself bears a strong resemblance to the Cold War atmosphere of the twentieth century with the Great Houses forming an opposition to the

Emperor and his forces and thus maintaining the balance of power.

The other major theme of Dune was undoubtedly ecology. Arrakis is a planet destroyed by desertification. Evidence suggests Arrakis was once lush and green, but was consumed by ever-moving sands in a rather short period of time. Imperial planetologist Pardot Kynes, assigned to the planet to study the

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Fremen, realizes this and comes up with an ambitious plan to terraform Arrakis and to make water flow on its surface once again. He promises this green paradise to the Fremen in exchange for their help, and so they start a centuries-long process of de-desertification.

Pardot’s son Liet follows in his father’s footsteps and from him learns the young Paul Atreides. Using the Fremen beliefs to his advantage, Paul recruits the Fremen to his cause by promising to them that he will hasten the terraforming process from centuries to decades. He uses ecology to start a crusade, something that Frank Herbert was afraid could happen in the real world as well (“Dune Genesis” 73).

The inspiration for the ecology of the planet came from a newspaper article Herbert wrote in 1957. Titled “They Stopped the Moving Sands”, it described how the U.S. Department of Agriculture managed to stop moving sand dunes in Oregon by planting poverty grasses on their crests and thus stabilizing them (F. Herbert, The Road to Dune 197). This ecological approach resonated deeply with Herbert and he later applied it to Dune where the

Fremen patiently change the face of the planet one shrubbery at the time. Even though the article was never published, Herbert was “hooked, both on ecology and on sand” (O’Reilly np).

During the following years, Herbert conducted extensive research on anything related to deserts. As Brian Herbert explains: “Dad scoured every library and book store for books about deserts, desert peoples and languages and desert religions. He learned about the behavior of sand, desert storms, water control, and dry land life forms” (129). Herbert studied the issue he

13 wanted to address with great diligence. “His personal library was burgeoning.

He had cardboard boxes full of notes” (B. Herbert 142).

Ecology was not Herbert’s primary concern, yet it paradoxically became the most memorable theme of the book. Brian Herbert suggests it is because the ecological message of the book was more comprehensive than the rest of the ideas his father presented in the novel (162). Another reason for the massive popularity of Dune’s ecological theme might be the timing of publication. In 1962, Rachel Carson published Silent Spring.

This book, which became something of a bible of environmentalism, highlighted the harmful effects of the extensive use of DDT and similar pesticides on the environment and populations of birds in the United States

(some species were driven to the brink of extinction). This eventually led to a worldwide ban of DDT (after the nationwide ban in the United States) and sowed the seed of the environmental conscience.

The general public was becoming aware of environmental issues and the

Green movement was on the rise. Dune was one of the first major works of science fiction concerned with ecology, no matter how big ecology’s part in its narrative actually was. The ecology of Dune “was palatable to millions of people”, unlike other themes including politics, religions and messianic impulses

(B. Herbert 162).

Herbert managed to mix together aspects of old science fiction with new methods and approaches. In a sense, Dune is a classic space opera about acts of heroism, romance and grand battles. It is “a world of few, if any, moral ambiguities; right is clearcut and wrong signals its presence by being repulsive”

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(Roberts 43). Baron Vladimir Harkonnen is an effective villain not only because of his Russian sounding name (which had much stronger connotations during the 1960s) but also because he is depicted as a morbidly obese homosexual pedophile (42-3). The Emperor is a decadent Machiavellian schemer abusing the power he has over the Great Houses. Duke Leto Atreides, on the other hand, is a benevolent leader who is willing to risk not only his own life, but also the life of his son Paul, to save a crew of a spice harvester that is about to be consumed by a sandworm (F. Herbert, Dune 150).

Dune relayed an important ideas to a very wide audience and its popularity only grew over time. For more than fifty years it has been in print and it addresses issues that are no less relevant today than they were half a century ago. Dune is a proof of what the science fiction is capable of besides telling thrilling stories with almost no informational value.

Science fiction can be educational, just like Gernsback believed. It can shift its focus from predicting the future to trying to prevent it and make its readers aware of important issues through defamiliarization. As Herbert commented: “Neither Brave New World nor 1984 will prevent our becoming a planet under Big Brother's thumb, but they make it a bit less likely. We've been sensitized to the possibility” (O’Reilly np).

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3 Lovelock’s alternative

Essentially all living organisms influence their environment in one way or the other. From the tiniest of bacteria and plant life synthesizing carbohydrates from CO2 to an apex predator chasing its prey across savannah, all interact with other parts of the ecosystem they live in. Humans are no exception.

However, it is well documented that humans influence their environment on much greater scale than other animals ever could.

Even the most primitive methods of agriculture and slash-and-burn deforestation changed the landscape in a significant way. With the dawn of the industrial era, humans began to pollute the air with smoke from factories, release toxic materials into the oceans and recklessly exploit natural resources and fossil fuels. With their blind optimism and lack of knowledge they hoped there would always be more.

3.1 Birth of Gaia

Early scientists saw the Earth as a clockwork machine that could be taken apart, measured and studied piece by piece. This way of thinking had its roots in teachings of Johannes Kepler and Galileo Galilei as they sought to

“understand nature and, through it, God’s intention, via mathematics and geometry” (Pepper 137). By being able to explain nature, humans placed themselves outside of it.

Change to this reductionist and egocentric thinking came in the second half of the twentieth century. The Space Race offered humans “a God’s-eye view of our planet” (Lovelock, “Reflections on Gaia” 2). Photos of the Earth

16 taken from space opened many eyes and made many people think differently about the planet. Some even started to question the conventions of contemporary science. One of these people was James Lovelock.

Lovelock, born in 1919, is a British chemist and environmentalist who is best known for his lifetime project – the Gaia Hypothesis – on which he collaborated with other like-minded scientists, the most prominent one being

Lynn Margulis (her expertise in microbiology complemented Lovelock’s deficiency in this field). This ecocentric hypothesis postulates that the Earth is a self-sustaining cybernetic superorganism maintaining comfortable living conditions for all life on its surface. In his theory, Lovelock offered an alternative to traditional Earth sciences.

These holistic ideas were not necessarily new. David Pepper gives an example of the renaissance idea of “The Chain of Being” where all links are equally important and “removing any link from it would destroy the chain”

(133). Even Lovelock himself admits in the revised version of his first book that other authors had similar thoughts before him and he uses their research to support his argument (Gaia 18).

Gaia hypothesis was not very well accepted to say the least. Not only because it stood in the direct opposition to the principles of contemporary science, but also because Gaia was misunderstood and revered as a God entity by groups of overly enthusiastic environmentalists described by Michael Ruse as

“joss-stick-burning, Eastern-religion-embracing, herb-consuming (eaten and smoked), Birkenstock-wearing, now-aging hippies and New Agers” (np).

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Publishing any serious work on Gaia hypothesis before 1995 was, according to

Lovelock, almost impossible (Gaia 11).

However, Lovelock succeeded and published his ideas in 1979 in a book called Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth. There he explains that the Gaia hypothesis is based on several interlinking theories and statements: atmosphere and its composition is actively maintained by the life itself; salinity of the oceans is regulated by a biological input and surface temperature is being stabilized in boundaries suitable for life. All of this is being controlled by cybernetic processes which Lovelock aptly compares to a human sense of balance (Gaia 45). The book was not meant for “hard scientists”, as Lovelock puts it, but for the general public (Gaia 12).

Despite Lovelock’s warnings, the first book on the Gaia hypothesis received heavy criticism from many scientists, including the famous evolutionary biologist Richard Dawkins. Gaia opposed the traditional evolution theory and it had strong esoteric connotations – that did not stand very well with scientific community.

The ascription of Godlike qualities to Gaia is something that Lovelock himself did not like (although it was inevitable since the Gaia hypothesis was named after the ancient Greek goddess of the Earth). “It has always seemed that many would have faith in Gaia,” he writes in an email conversation with

John Gray, “I prefer to keep a trust in Gaia; it is more consistent with science”

(34).

Many would probably be dissuaded from developing their ideas further after such a backlash, but not Lovelock. He had taken all criticism seriously and

18 further refined his ideas to better suit the tastes of the scientific community

(Ruse np). As a response to the critics of the Gaia hypothesis, and to demonstrate Gaian principles on a concrete example, he created, with the help of his colleague and former PhD student Andrew Watson, a computer model called “Daisyworld”.

3.2 Of planets and daisies

Daisyworld is an ideal Gaian planet populated solely by black and white daisies. The population of black daisies is susceptible to hot temperatures while the population of white daisies thrives in such conditions. The black daisies absorb more solar energy and the planet heats up. These are the ideal conditions for the white daisies, which start to proliferate, increase the amount of solar energy that gets reflected back into space and thus cool the planet.

This cycle is then repeated practically indefinitely. Daisyworld served as the representation of the very basic Gaian system, which, if left undisturbed, could maintain near stable temperatures for prolonged periods of time thanks to a cybernetic cycle functioning as a natural thermostat.

Gaia’s critics were not convinced. Daisyworld does not take into account any other factors that might influence the daisy populations nor does it follow the principles of evolution. These were the two arguments used most commonly against Daisyworld as noted by James W. Kirchner (402-3).

This serves as an example of reductionist thinking which the Gaia hypothesis opposed. The Neo-Darwinist scientists focused on the individual organisms and their ability to adapt, survive and beat others in a genetic arms race – the prey must become faster to outrun its predator and, in turn, the

19 predator must become faster to catch its prey. The Gaia hypothesis promoted the idea that the entire system – in this case the predator and its prey – evolves as a whole to maintain the equilibrium, in addition to the evolution of individuals (Lovelock, “Reflections on Gaia” 1).

Recognition of Gaia

Eventually, after decades of struggle, the Gaia hypothesis got recognized as an alternative way to study the environment, as both sides of the conflict made some compromises and found a common ground. “Gaia is now part of conventional wisdom and is called Earth system science,” reported Lovelock,

“only the name Gaia is controversial” (“Reflections on Gaia” 1).

Undoubtedly, this was a great success for Lovelock and other supporters of the Gaia hypothesis, who had been fighting for the hypothesis to be taken seriously for years. This struggle led to interesting research projects being conducted (Kirchner 396) and some of its critics even salute hypothesis’ defendants and admit that Gaia offers a new point of view from which to investigate the Earth even if some of its claims may be false or dubious at best

(Kirchner 404; Ruse 5).

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4 Dune as a Gaian planet

Now, after the proper introduction of both Herbert’s Dune and Lovelock’s

Gaia hypothesis, it is time to closely analyze Dune for any similarities it might share with the Gaia hypothesis. Near the end of his first book on Gaia, Lovelock summarizes his hypothesis into a three points, which can be summarized as follows:

1) Gaia is always trying to keep constant conditions for all terrestrial life

unless seriously interfered with.

2) Consequences of change depend on the location where the change

happens.

3) Response to negative changes is not instant and must obey the laws

of cybernetics. Matters will get worse before they can eventually get

better. (Lovelock, Gaia 119)

Subsequent comparative analysis will follow these points and focus on three main areas of interest – Dune’s planetology and how life influences its environment, Dune’s inhabitant’s attempts to terraform the desert planet and how Dune’s cybernetic system respond to the changes in the ecosystem.

4.1 Self-sustainability of a desert

Herbert was no biochemist, astrophysicist or any other specialized type of scientist for that matter. It is quite understandable that, however complex and convincing planet Dune seems to be, there are bound to be ambiguities, mistakes or just blank spaces. On the other hand, through Pardot Kynes,

Herbert demonstrates not only his deep understanding of ecosystems, but also

21 knowledge of at least some Gaian ideas as Kynes’ thoughts closely resemble those of Lovelock.

Kynes mentions the role of energy in the system and emphasizes that an ecosystem “maintains a certain fluid stability” (F. Herbert, Dune 570), the life

“improves the capacity of the environment to sustain life” because “nutrients are made available to life by life in greater and greater richness” (F. Herbert,

Dune 315, 566).

Lovelock argues that life requires certain minimum amount of solar energy so habitability of a planet depends not only on temperature and the composition of the atmosphere but also on the energy planet receives from its sun. If the energy output of the Sun was lower and the Earth was orbiting closer to it to maintain the same temperature, “life would never have got going.

Life needs energy potent enough to sever chemical bonds; mere warmth is not enough” (Gaia 5). Neither Venus nor Mars, Earth’s closest neighbors, cannot support life and never could (Lovelock, Gaia 17). There is life on Arrakis, despite the fact that it is covered in sand, because it has breathable atmosphere. With no water or vegetation, there must be some different regulatory system in place.

Makers of the desert

The true rulers of Dune are not the Noble Houses or various factions wrestling over the control of the spice. Not even the Emperor himself is the master of Dune. The sandworms are those who rule the deserts Arrakis as they play an important part in the spice-producing cycle. Without the spice, there

22 would be no Imperium, no space travel, no Bene Gesserit. This, however, had not always been the case.

Arrakis had once been lush planet full of diverse life, greenery and free- flowing water in rivers and seas, much like Earth is now. The first one to notice is Lady Jessica when she observes a salt pan near the crevice she and her son are hiding in (F. Herbert, Dune 304). This hypothesis is later confirmed in the first of the book’s appendices. Named “The Ecology of Dune” it tells a story of

Pardot Kynes, who studied Dune and instilled in the Fremen the ecological ideas. Pardot was also the leader of the terraforming initiative among Dune’s native people. During one of his survey flights, he notices a salt pan below:

“Then Kynes saw the salt pan. […] Now, he was certain. There’d been open water on Arrakis – once” (F. Herbert, Dune 569).

The obvious question is: where did all the water go? If Dune was an

Earth-like planet, orbiting its sun in a safe distance and with diverse biosphere on its surface, how could it so quickly and thoroughly lose all of its water which is no doubt important to support most of known lifeforms? As Ralph D. Lorenz notes in his essay in The Science of Dune, desertification on such scale would be near impossible as “sand production is self-limiting—eventually there is enough sand to protect the bedrock from further erosion” (np).

Answer to this question cannot actually be found in the original Dune novel. No sooner than in its second sequel, called Children of Dune, is the rapid desertification of the planet Dune explained. There, Paul’s son Leto II. Atreides explains to his sister Ghanima the origins of the spice-cycle and how sandworms changed the face of Arrakis:

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“The sandtrout,” he repeated, “was introduced here from some other

place. This was a wet planet then. They proliferated beyond the capability

of existing ecosystems to deal with them. Sandtrout encysted the available

free water, made this a desert planet . . . and they did it to survive. In a

planet sufficiently dry, they could move to their sandworm phase.” (F.

Herbert, Children of Dune 32)

By whom and for what purpose was the sandtrout, also known among the Fremen as the Little Makers, introduced to the planet’s ecosystem is entirely unknown. They are one of three stages in the life of a sandworm and their connection to the spice-cycle and mature sandworms was for a very long time implied but never confirmed.

Creatures from the Fremen folk tales, the sandtrout proved to be the key element that links together sandworms and the deserts of Dune. Once introduced to the planet, they changed the environment to better suit their mature form, for which large amounts of water are deadly. The life itself produced conditions in which it could thrive. The same, sadly, cannot be said for the rest of the ancient Arrakis’ biosphere as all that were not able to adapt, died. Only a few desert species and humans, who became known as the native

Fremen, stubbornly endured.

Makers of the atmosphere

The desertification of Arrakis and the incredible proliferation of sandworms is similar to a doomsday scenario which Lovelock presents in his book as a possible way of eliminating all life on Earth. His hypothetical situation involves genetically modified microorganism which was supposed to enrich soil

24 in less fertile areas of the world. Unexpectedly, it reacted with water alga and eventually grew to gargantuan proportions, covering most of the planet’s surface.

In due time, the composition of the atmosphere would change drastically to the point where planet would not be able to support life anymore (Lovelock,

Gaia 38-43). Dune’s fate is not unlike that of the Earth from Lovelock’s scenario and yet the desert planet is still habitable even with practically all of its ocean ecosystems and greenery gone. Sandworms must have destroyed many of the cybernetic self-regulating systems and as a result, following Lovelock’s example, the planet should have died. Unless the lost systems got replaced somehow.

As it turns out, sandworms are the only cybernetic system Dune needs.

Without greenery and its photosynthetic processes, production of oxygen would stop. Luckily, sandworms are more than able to compensate for the loss of oxygen producers. According to Kynes’ research notes “a medium worm (about

200 meters long) discharged into the atmosphere as much oxygen as ten square kilometers of green-growing photosynthesis surface” (F. Herbert, Dune

571). The exact number of sandworms on Dune is unknown but there certainly are many of them, considering the sandtrout “died by the millions in each spice- blow” (F. Herbert, Dune 569).

Sandworms not only changed the planet’s surface but are also able to sustain its atmosphere. The life cycle of a sandworm became the regulation cycle of the entire planet. Without sandworms, Dune would become barren like

Earth consumed by the symbiotic colony of Lovelock’s bacteria.

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For humans and other life on Dune, oxygen is the most important part of the atmosphere. Composition of Arrakis’ atmosphere is very close to the one of the Earth: “23 per cent oxygen, 75.4 per cent nitrogen and .023 per cent carbon dioxide – with the trace gases taking up the rest” (F. Herbert, Dune

568). Lovelock presents a similar values for Earth: 21 per cent oxygen, 78 per cent nitrogen and 0.03 per cent carbon dioxide (Gaia 33). The difference does not seem that big but even a slight increase can drastically change the situation.

Were oxygen levels to increase to 25 per cent, the consequences would be cataclysmic as the risk of forest fires would increase rapidly and such disasters would be able to devastate all but the most resilient vegetation

(Lovelock, Gaia 65). To prevent this, atmosphere needs nitrogen and methane, both of which are, according to Lovelock, potent oxygen-diluting gases.

Methane is mostly a product of microbial activity in marshes (Gaia 67) and nitrogen is produced in large quantities in seas and soil in a form of ammonia (Gaia 71-2). There are neither marches nor seas present on Dune, which would explain lower levels of nitrogen in its atmosphere. While this may seem unimportant it is actually a very interesting detail – with no vegetation that could potentially be harmed by higher concentrations of oxygen, it can be more abundant in the atmosphere than here on Earth. With no seas and marches, Dune is, again, left at the mercy of sandworms.

Sandworms’ life-cycle is something of a mystery. Kynes’ research notes prove once again useful when he reports: “little maker to pre-spice mass; little maker to shai-hulud [religious term for a sandworm]; shai-hulud to scatter the

26 spice upon which fed […] the sand plankton, food for shai-hulud, growing, burrowing, becoming little makers” (F. Herbert, Dune 569). Little makers are known to enclose water into subterranean capsules where the pre-spice mass forms and is later released in a violent explosion. The exact nature of the process is unknown, but Sybille Hechtel offers some insightful commentaries on how it might work.

Sandtrout live mostly underground. They are known to the Fremen only as water-stealing pests and playthings for their children. Leathery scraps found near the center of the spice explosion most likely belong to the sandtrout which tended to that particular water capsule. Pardot Kynes knew that the sandtrout play an important role in the atmosphere regulation process and, through his delirious son Liet, this information is relayed to the reader: “Near-ideal nitrogen-oxygen-CO2 balance [...] in the absence of plant cover [...] something occupies that gap. I knew the little maker was there, deep in the sand, long before I ever saw it” (F. Herbert, Dune 317).

Without the sun to fuel photosynthetic process, the sandtrout would have to use a different source of energy. Hechtel suggests that sandtrout could use hydrogen sulfide (used by bacteria around deep-sea vents on the Earth) as a source of energy for their photosynthesis processes (Hechtel np).

In a sense, sandtrout function as worker bees or ants. They actively seek out water and are the reason behind wells drying up (F. Herbert, Dune 76).

Then they prepare the nest where they feed, multiply, take care of sand plankton and produce the pre-spice mass along with carbon dioxide, methane and possibly other gases which are then released to the atmosphere during the

27 spice explosion. Hechtel proposes that sandtrout may cultivate some sort of fungi or bacteria in their underground water-rich nests, which could also be the source of the spice (Hechtel np). These are just speculations, however, as

Herbert does not give more detailed information on how exactly is the spice created.

The last link in the chain are surprisingly humans, the Fremen to be more specific. They work towards their prophesized green planet and gather water in underground reservoirs (which they must guard against water-stealing sandtrout). They use windtraps and dew-collectors that condense moisture from the air. Other than that, Fremen are known for “recycling” their dead.

They gather every last drop of moisture from dead body following an old

Fremen saying: “A man’s flesh is his own; the water belongs to the tribe” (F.

Herbert, Dune 251). Fremen resemble the sandtrout in that they gather any excess moisture from the air and bodies which is beyond reach of the sandtrout. This way, the Fremen are indirectly helping sandworms by reducing overall moisture levels in the atmosphere.

Even though Dune lacks surface water and water based biomes such as seas or marches, where, most of the nitrogen and methane production takes place, composition of atmosphere is near the ideal state. Sandworms are more than able to fill the holes in the atmospheric composition regulation system.

What Herbert has done is that he replaced Earth’s oceans with sand and moved the essential parts of the system underground.

Life cycle of the sandworms is enclosed holistic system which cannot continue if one of the parts is missing. This cycle is not only able to perpetuate

28 itself but it helps to sustain the somewhat comfortable living conditions for other parts of Dune’s biosphere. Many complex cybernetic systems of the

Earth-like planet had been replaced by just one. One that must never be broken otherwise the planet would die.

4.2 Planetary house of cards

It was Pardot Kynes who thought of terraforming the Arrakis and making it more suitable for human life. Starting small, just few plants at the time, he believed he could change the face of Dune and make water flow on the planet’s surface again. He calculated how much water would this project require and found out that there is enough water on Arrakis to cover the expenses. With the help of Fremen, easily seduced by the promises of open water on a green paradise planet, he could start to slowly terraform the planet.

The exact figure was three per cent: “If they could get three per cent of the green plant element on Arrakis involved in forming carbon compounds, they’d have their self-sustaining cycle” (F. Herbert, Dune 571). Pardot, however, would never see the results of his work, nor would his son or grandchildren. “About three hundred and fifty years” was his sounded estimation of how long would this endeavor take (F. Herbert, Dune 571). He had to make sure his legacy survives and when the Fremen accepted him as their leader, he taught them about ecology, sustainable environment and the terraforming project.

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The Fremen learned about ecology with almost religious fervor. While in one of the Fremen settlements, Paul witnessed one of these lessons: “The board was filled with designs. […] The woman pointed to the designs […] and the children chanted in rhythm with her moving hand” (F. Herbert, Dune 399).

This way, the Fremen would always remember Kynes’ teachings and finish what he had started.

One plant at the time

In the Fremen’s terraforming initiative, Herbert shows his good understanding of Earth’s ecosystems and their interaction. Kynes wanted to start the terraforming process in the wide belt between 70 degrees north and south. Temperatures there did not change much and growing season’s average temperatures stayed within the range of 284-302 degrees absolute (book’s equivalent of Kelvin) which equals to roughly about 10-28 degrees Celsius. In

Kynes’ words: “the ‘bonanza’ range for terraform life” (F. Herbert, Dune 568).

This is very similar to conditions on Earth with comfortable belt between 67 degrees north and south and comparable temperatures. These near ideal conditions provided an excellent starting point for planet’s transformation.

Key was to start small and gradually introduce new plants and organisms to the slowly growing ecosystems. First, Fremen had to stop the ever-moving dunes. They used the very same technique Herbert learned about in Oregon.

Small poverty grasses fixed dunes in place with their roots so that the windward sides of the dune could be cover with thicker grasses.

When the dune was fixed, other small plants like amaranth, dwarf tamarisk or pigweeds followed (F. Herbert, Dune 570). These grasses and small

30 plants were used to enrich soil with nutrients and prepare it for more demanding vegetation and crops. But the Fremen did not stop there: “They turned then to the necessary animal life – burrowing creatures to open the soil

[…] the predators to keep them in check […] the insects to fill the niches […] and the desert bat to keep watch on these” (F. Herbert, Dune 570).

After that, the Fremen started planting crops, trees and medicinal herbs

– everything their communities might need. Some areas, however, became hostile to the sandworms because of the moisture and soil composition, as

Kynes observed (F. Herbert, Dune 571). This was the biggest danger of the entire process – it threatened sandworms and their territory. While the experimental plantings had proven to be successful, they were not able to support human life on their own. At least not yet.

Kynes’ thinking, and, by extension, Herbert’s, was not actually that far from plausibility and suggested process could work in a real world scenario. In fact, there is an example of something similar being done on Earth. David M.

Lawrence describes transformation of the island Ascension by Joseph Dalton

Hooker from a rather desolate island to lush a lively place. Hooker’s and Kynes’ projects were almost identical in the individual steps, although, as Lawrence admits, Hooker’s was a bit more hit-or-miss and the terraforming succeeded partially by accident (Lawrence np). Compared to that, Kynes’ way is more thought-out. Supported by many tests and calculations, his plans are complex and ambitions great.

Surprisingly, this process could actually work even on a planetary scale.

A team led by Fabio Cresto Aleina conducted and experiment, which aimed to

31 explore how vegetation interacts with climate on a desert world, where surface water is limited. Results were three scenarios representing three stable systems: a system where nothing changes as the water remains unavailable to plants; a system where plants start hydrologic cycle and create clouds; and a system where plants are able to start hydrologic cycle but die out and desertification process is not stopped (Aleina 10). The first and the third scenarios are unlikely to happen on Dune, as the Fremen care for the vegetation and provide water necessary to keep the plants alive.

Rains of death

Indeed, the Fremen terraforming of Dune is successful and result is the second model scenario from Aleina’s research – clouds begin to form in the skies of Arrakis and first rains fall down upon the dunes. This, however, is a major concern, as water is toxic to the sandworms. They retreat away from the new greenery, deep into the great dunes near the Dune’s equator.

Terraforming endangers sandworms and the production of the spice.

Without the spice, empire would collapse. In Children of Dune, a former fedaykin Al-Fali voices these concerns during the audience with regent Alia,

Paul’s sister:

“Once it was the land where nothing grew. Now there are plants. They

spread like lice upon a wound. There have been clouds and rain along the

belt of Dune! Rain, My Lady! Oh, precious mother of Muad'Dib, as sleep is

death's brother, so is rain on the Belt of Dune. It is the death of us all.”

(Herbert, Children of Dune 163)

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It would seem that the terraforming of the planet is a direct violation of

Gaian principles. Fremen intentionally upset the balance maintained by the sandworms’ life-cycle in hopes of creating a green paradise with free-flowing water. Large bodies of water are dangerous to sandworms, so sandworms and the vision of green Arrakis are mutually exclusive. This ecological crusade in fact drives sandworms to the brink of extinction.

I would argue that it is the exact opposite. If anything, the Fremen initiative is part of a cybernetic process keeping sandworms in check. Lovelock admits that cybernetic systems make errors in the pursuit of the ideal state:

“Like living things, they seek or approach perfection but never quite make it”

(Gaia 47). The Fremen and sandworms are two sides of the same coin. Only one at the time can rule Arrakis.

4.3 Struggle for perfection

Humans of Dune can be divided in two large groups:

The off-worlders, who are members of the Noble Houses, their entourage and security, spice merchants and water peddlers. The Noble Houses see Dune as a trophy because it is the most prestigious and lucrative fief the

Emperor can offer. Traders with water and spice see the obvious monetary benefit in the exploitation of both the spice addicts and water deprived citizens.

None of the above particularly care about the planet and its ecosystems, the exception being duke Leto Atreides and his son Paul. The off-worlders do not

“inhabit” the planet as Eric Otto puts it (48).

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The Fremen, on the other hand, are “dwellers” as they are attuned to the world they live in (Otto 48). The Fremen possess a “superb knowledge of their environment” (O’Reilly np), they know how to survive in the deep desert, they can ride sandworms (mounting one is actually a rite of passage) and, thanks to Kynes’ teachings, they understand their planet and their role in its ecosystem.

The Fremen are, in fact, as much of a part of the planet’s ecosystem as the worms are. Sooner or later, all Fremen become addicted to the spice. This means that they cannot possibly leave the planet unless they can secure regular doses of spice, so they would not die from the withdrawal effects.

Spice is everywhere on Dune – in the air, in the ground, in the food and even in the water. The Fremen, more than anyone else, breathe, eat and drink spice on daily basis. Should they be taken away from Dune and deprived of spice, they would die. Just like sandworms wither and die when separated from the sandtrout and the sand plankton. The Fremen are not only inhabitants, or dwellers, but they are also a part of sandworm’s spice-cycle. Paul’s son Leto II

Atreides later accepts the sandtrout into his body and begins a metamorphosis into a sandworm-human mutant. He then proceeds to claim the throne as the

God Emperor of Dune and represents the planet in its entirety – sandworms and humans alike.

Return of the desert

During Leto’s reign described in the fourth installment of the Dune series

God Emperor of Dune, Dune is green with trees and foliage and rivers flow on its surface. The Fremen terraforming project was a success. Set to reverse the

34 effects of the project, the God Emperor destroys legacy of his father and both

Pardot and Liet Kynes. As an ultimate sacrifice, his sandworm body is destroyed in a river and spawns the sandtrout in the process. They then begin, once again, the desertification process which will bring sandworms back.

Lovelock suggests that this circular logic is characteristic for simple cybernetic systems – if the oven is too hot, thermostat turns off the heater and when the temperature drops it turns it back on (Gaia 46). This is a result of the

Fremen’s and sandworms’ strive for the paradise. The Fremen desire a green planet with flowing water, while sandworms aim for the exact opposite –

“[systems of all living organisms] set a goal and then strive to achieve it through the cybernetic process of trial and error” (Gaia 45).

This cybernetic process of trial and error can be observed on all levels from individuals (Kynes, Paul Atreides, Leto II) to species (the Fremen and the sandworms) and even greater scale – the planet itself as it tries to find the fabled perfection. However, following Lovelock’s argument, is unable to do so and never will be.

Constant swaying from one extreme to another, struggle to maintain the ideal state comfortable for the both inhabitants of the planet, is strangely reminiscent of the other Lovelock’s project – Daisyworld. Humans thrive in the

Earth-like environment with green vegetation and open bodies of water but this environment is hostile to the sandworms. Those flourish in arid conditions with as little water as possible. It is the same circle as with black and white daisies with one difference. Daisyworld’s primary concern is the atmospheric temperature.

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On Dune, it is not the temperature that is the problem. The temperature stayed the same for thousands of years and Dune’s change into a green paradise did not make a difference. It is the water. It functions the same way as the temperature does in Daisyworld. While one species thrives, the other one suffers. Obviously, there is no safety mechanism here. Unlike Daisyworld, humans prosper in a terran environment and there is nothing that could turn the tide in favor of the sandworms once humans obtain their paradise. Or is there?

Mysticism is a rather common theme in Dune. Drug abuse is portrayed as something fairly normal in the Imperium. Spice prolongs life and sometimes provides hallucinogenic glimpses of the future to its user. The Fremen are known for their spice-fueled tribe-wide drug orgies. The Sisterhood of Bene

Gesserit possess many obscure powers. Paul “Muad’Dib” Atreides embarked on a spiritual journey of The Golden Path but he was unable to finish it. His son, however, followed The Golden Path which was revealed to him in his visions.

Arrakis was supposed to be terraformed and Leto II was destined to die and sacrifice his sandworm body to start a new spice-cycle. Primary concern of

The Golden Path is the prosperity of humankind, as humans were supposed to colonize new worlds during the event known as The Scattering, but Dune benefited as well – it became a desert planet again. Leto II Atreides, sandworm-human hybrid, served as the safety mechanism for Dune and the dying sandworms. Thanks to him, sandworms ruled Arrakis once more.

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5 Conclusion

To summarize, ecosystems on the planet Dune certainly follow the basic aspects of Lovelock’s Gaia hypothesis. The life itself is responsible for maintaining comfortable living conditions on the planet’s surface. Sandworms are completely self-sufficient and their life-cycle is self-perpetuating. They produce oxygen in astounding amounts and activity of the younger stages of the sandworm, the sandtrout and the sand plankton, might produce sufficient oxygen-diluting gasses to control the composition of the atmosphere.

The native humans of the planet, the desert-dwelling Fremen, understand their surroundings very well and with great ecological knowledge strive to change the face of the planet. Thanks to Kynes’ research, they know where should they start and how should they proceed to ensure a success of their undertaking. Eventually, they indeed succeed and make their planet green as it once was.

In the end, however, the sandworms return and lush vegetation is again consumed by moving sands and buried deep under the dunes of Arrakis, as the planet’s cybernetics, stuck in and endless loop, struggle to accommodate both the humans and the sandworms. Unlike the Daisies of Lovelock’s Daisyworld,

Dune’s inhabitants’ ability to thrive is not dictated by temperature or solar energy, but by moisture. When the Fremen realized that the climate change they had unleashed on the planet could be neither controlled nor stopped, it was already too late.

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Herbert managed to convey important ideas and educational messages in a very palatable form. Hidden under the multiple layers of a compelling narrative, some of these messages can be easily missed. Ecology, originally intended merely as a backdrop, resonated deeply with the general public only recently awoken to the matters of environmentalism. Dune pioneered the way for the more inward oriented science fiction of the “New Wave”, which was concerned with morality, human nature and topical issues rather than with technology and adventures in outer space.

It is worth mentioning that Herbert’s work is still relatively unexplored and academic sources on Dune, let alone other major works, are rather scarce.

Ecology is but a single theme in the multi-layered epic of Dune and many others can be discussed including psychology, psychic conditioning, genetic engineering, religious fanaticism or fatalism reminiscent of ancient Greek tragedies.

In its own field, the Gaia hypothesis was also revolutionary and gathered a significant number of followers. Lovelock offered an alternative to the contemporary methods of studying Earth’s systems and their interactions. His views were nowhere near as popular as the Herbert’s best known novel, but did a very similar thing. They challenged an old conventions and tried to carve a new way for a different approach to a specific problem, although Lovelock’s position was much harder to defend and even today, the Gaia hypothesis stands on an uneven surface.

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Summary

The aim of this thesis is to analyze Frank Herbert’s best known novel

Dune and identify its key ecological elements. These will be then compared to the basic concepts of the Gaia hypothesis developed by British chemist James

Lovelock. The intention is to prove the presence of Lovelock’s ideas and aspects of the Gaia hypothesis in Herbert’s Dune and to discuss the role they play in

Dune’s story. The first part of the thesis deals with the origins of science fiction literature and its potential to educate and draw attention to important issues. In addition to that, the first part offers a short plot synopsis Dune which provides necessary context for the discussion in the third part. The second part briefly describes the Gaia hypothesis, its pivotal points and Lovelock’s struggle to legitimize it within the scientific community. The third and the last part compares Lovelock’s ideas and principles of his hypothesis with the processes of a planetary self-sustainability described in Dune. This is done using a comparative analysis of Lovelock’s book Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth and

Herbert’s Dune.

Key words: science fiction literature, ecology, Frank Herbert, James Lovelock,

Gaia hypothesis, climate change, desertification

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Resumé

Předmětem mé diplomové práce je kniha Duna – nejznámější dílo amerického spisovatele science fiction Franka Herberta – její rozbor a identifikace klíčových témat dotýkajících se ekologie. Tyto prvky Duny posléze porovnám s hypotézou Gaia britského chemika Jamese Lovelocka. Cílem je dokázat přítomnost Lovelockových myšlenek a aspektů hypotézy Gaia v Herbertově knize a analyzovat jejich využití v příběhovém kontextu. První část práce se zabývá kořeny science fiction literatury a jejím potenciálem vzdělávat a upozorňovat na důležité problémy. Mimo to obsahuje první část také souhrn děje Duny, který poskytuje potřebný kontext pro analýzu ve třetí části. Druhá

část práce stručně popisuje hypotézu Gaia, její základní body a myšlenky a snahu Jamese Lovelocka o její legitimizaci ve vědecké obci. Třetí a poslední část porovnává Lovelockovy poznatky a principy jeho hypotézy s procesy planetární soběstačnosti popsanými v Duně. Toho je dosaženo komparativní analýzou

Lovelockovy knihy Gaia: A New Look at Life on Earth a Herbertovy Duny.

Klíčová slova: science fiction literatura, ekologie, Frank Herbert, James

Lovelock, hypotéza Gaia, klimatické změny, desertifikace

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