An Historical view on Earth System Science
The scientific approach to studying Earth as a System evolved hand-in-hand with advances in satellite remote sensing during the second half of the 20th century as global imagery and communication capabilities became increasingly common and widespread.
Enabled by technology, the comprehensive study of Earth as a System is based on the Gaia hypothesis, an ecological premise that all living and nonliving things on Earth are part of a complex interacting system inherent with a regulatory sustaining force. The Gaia hypothesis was first formally proposed in the 1960s by Dr. James Lovelock while working for NASA. Lovelock eventually published this concept in 1979 in a book called Gaia: A new look at life on Earth.
Today the Gaia theory is commonly referred to as Earth System Science which recognizes 4 main scientific disciplines and associated spheres: geology (lithosphere), oceanography (hydrosphere), meteorology (atmosphere) and ecology (biosphere).