Symbiotic Earth explores the life and ideas of scientific rebel Lynn Margulis who challenged entrenched theories of male-dominated science. As a young scientist in the 1960s, Margulis was ridiculed when she first proposed that symbiosis – when organisms live and work together — was a key driver of evolution, but she persisted. Through numerous collaborations she caused a seismic shift in our understanding of life.

Margulis’ symbiotic narrative presents an alternative to the destructive worldview that has led to climate change and extreme capitalism. With James Lovelock she developed the Gaia Theory that all life is interconnected and interdependent. Her vision offers bold insights into health, society, and nature, and inspires creative approaches to our pressing environmental and social crises.

Symbiotic Earth is divided into 10 essays and an epilogue:

Introduction
1. How Lynn Margulis Coerced Me Into Making This Film
2. How Science Gave Us Permission to Exploit the Earth
3. Confronting the Neo-Darwinian Capitalistic Zeitgeist (aka: How Science Gave Us Permission to Exploit Each Other)
4. Lynn Margulis’ Lifelong Quest
5. Working Together (aka: How Did She Do it All?)
6. Bacteria Run the Planet
7. Symbiosis is the Way of Life
8. The Cell (not DNA) Controls the Organism
9. Evolution Through Mergers
10. Gaia: A Physiological System on the Surface of the Earth
Epilogue: Embracing How Little We Know