Lynn MargulisLynn Margulis (1938–2011) was an interdisciplinary evolutionary biologist, author and educator. She was the primary intellectual force in the 20th and early 21st century responsible for the acceptance of the role of symbiogenesis (of archaea and bactria) played in the evolution of the eukaryotic cells (cells with nuclei) that became plants, animals, and fungi. She also, by underscoring the roles of gas-exchanging bacteria, helped turn James Lovelock's Gaia hypothesis that the reactive gases of Earth's atmosphere were physiologically regulated by life away from thermodynamic equilibrium, into a full on theory. Her books, often written in collaboration with her son Dorion Sagan, include Microcosmos: Four Billion Years of Evolution from Our Microbial Ancestors (1987), Mystery Dance: On the Evolution of Human Sexuality (1991) and Slanted Truths: Essays on Gaia, Symbiosis, and Evolution (1997). Read More Read Less