Live stream preview

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Watch this video and more on OVID.tv

Start your free trial

Already subscribed? Sign in

Symbiotic Earth

UR rating icon
Biography • 2h 27m

Directed by John Feldman • Documentary • 2018 • 147 minutes

SYMBIOTIC EARTH explores the life and ideas of Lynn Margulis, a brilliant and radical scientist, whose unconventional theories challenged the male-dominated scientific community and are today fundamentally changing how we look at our selves, evolution, and the environment.

As a young scientist in the 1960s, Margulis was ridiculed when she first proposed that symbiosis was a key driver of evolution, but she persisted. Instead of the mechanistic view that life evolved through random genetic mutations and competition, she presented a symbiotic narrative in which bacteria joined together to create the complex cells that formed animals, plants and all other organisms - which together form a multi-dimensional living entity that covers the Earth. Humans are not the pinnacle of life with the right to exploit nature, but part of this complex cognitive system in which each of our actions has repercussions.

Filmmaker John Feldman traveled globally to meet Margulis' cutting-edge colleagues and continually asked: What happens when the truth changes? SYMBIOTIC EARTH examines the worldview that has led to climate change and extreme capitalism and offers a new approach to understanding life that encourages a sustainable and symbiotic lifestyle.

Tags
andre fortin, animals, anthropology and archaeology, anton de bary, autopoesis, bacteria, barbara mcclintock, betsey dexter dyer, biography, biology, blue green algae, boston university, bullfrog films, capitalist zeitgeist, carbon cycle, carl sagan, chemistry, chloroplasts, cilia, climate change, competition, coral, coral bleaching, creationism, critical thinking and ethics, cyanobacteria, darwin, denis noble, descartes, dna molecules, don williamson, dorion sagan, douglas zook, earth science, ecology, education, endosymbiosis, energy and resources institute new delhi, environment, environment1, environmental evolution course, epigenetics, eukaryotic, evolution, exploiting nature, expository, extreme capitalism, federico mayor zaragoza, five kingdoms, flagellum, fritjof capra, fungi, gaia theory, gender studies, genetic determinism, genetics, genomes, geology, gregor mendel, hans ris, herbert spencer, history, history of science, human genome project, humans as pinnacle of nature, hybridization, ivan wallin, james lovelock, james shapiro, jan saap, laissez-faire economics, lamarck, life as a process, lymphocytes, lynn margulis, male-dominated scientific community, margaret mcfall-ngai, marine biological lab, marine biology, martin brasier, mary catherine bateson, mechanistic view of life, microbes rule the world, microbiology, microbiota, minakatella, mitochondria, mitosis, morten laane, mycorrhizal fungus, nasa, natural selection, nature1, neo-darwinism, nitrogen cycle, nucleotides, origin of the species, ovid, ovid_ca, oxford debate with richard dawkins and lynn margulis, oxygen cycle, philosophy, physical science, plants, prokaryotic, protists, protoctists, puffer's pond, random genetic mutations, reductionism, richard dawkins, richard guerrero, s_0014, s_0029, s_0030, s_0039, s_0077, s_0079, s_0090, s_0123, s_0145, s_0185, s_0219, s_0289, s_0290, s_0494, s_0519, s_0596, science and technology, scientists, scott gilbert, selfish gene, separating man from nature, sir richard roberts, spirochete, stem education, stephen harding, survival of the fittest, symbiogenesis, symbionts, symbiosis, symbiotic earth, symbiotic world view, systems thinking, tim lenton, title_nopqrs, title_s, uc berkeley, university of chicago, university of massachusetts amherst, university of wisconsin, viruses, women's history, women's studies, woods hole, worldview leading to climate change

Up Next in Biography

  • The Bohemian
    2:23:07
    The Bohemian

    The Bohemian

    Directed by Petr Václav • Drama • With Vojtech Dyk, Elena Radonicich • 2024 • 142 minutes

    In 18th century Italy, aspiring opera composer Josef Mysliveček dreams of becoming a musician. His ambitions lead him to embark on a journey, exploring the world of opera to fulfill his destiny. Against all...

  • Henry Miller - Prophet of Desire
    52:02
    Henry Miller - Prophet of Desire

    Henry Miller - Prophet of Desire

    Directed by Gero von Boehm • Documentary • 2016 • 52 minutes

    Henry Miller had five wives and considered himself bound to both the continent of Europe and to the US. This portrait is a close-up of the life of the extraordinary Miller, who, rebellious and narcissistic, entered the realm of the app...

  • Long Distance Swimmer: Sara Mardini
    1:34:00
    Long Distance Swimmer: Sara Mardini

    Long Distance Swimmer: Sara Mardini

    Directed by Charly Wai Feldman • Documentary • 2023 • 89 minutes

    At 20, Sara was already famous. She fled Syria in 2015 with her younger sister Yusra. When their boat broke down as they were crossing the sea to Greece, Sara and Yusra and two others jumped into the waves and swam for three and a ...

×