George F. R. Ellis
George F. R.
Ellis
Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics, University of Cape Town
BIO
George has an impressive academic career and is considered as one of the world’s leading theorists in cosmology. However, his research involves many more aspects than just a cosmological perspective. He is engaged in the relation between human emotion and brain plasticity, the nature of social indicators, and even in low-income housing. The debate between philosophers and physicists prompted him to take a critical position towards overly reductionist physicists. His work consists of more than five hundred articles, sixteen books, and numerous book chapters for which he was awarded several honorary degrees. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society, London (FRS). Besides this, he received the John F. W. Herschel Medal of the Royal Society of South Africa (RSSA), the Templeton Prize in 2004, and as a special honor, Nelson Mandela awarded him the Order of the Star of South Africa in 1999.
George joined THE NEW INSTITUTE in spring of 2022 and is involved in the program "The Foundations of Value and Values".
PUBLICATIONS
Physical, Logical, and Mental Top-Down Effects
In this paper, we explore the architecture of downward causation on the basis of three central cases.
Top-Down Causation and the Human Brain
A reliable understanding of the nature of causation is the core feature of science. In this paper the concept of top-down causation in the hierarchy of structure and causation is examined in depth.
Relativistic Cosmology (with Roy Maartens and Malcolm A. H. MacCallum), 2012
Dynamical Systems in Cosmology (ed., with John Wainwright), 1997
On the Moral Nature of the Universe: Theology, Cosmology, and Ethics (with Nancey C. Murphy), 1996
Low Income Housing Policy in South Africa (with David Dewar), 1979
The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time (with Stephen Hawking), 1973
