available at george francis rayner ellis g.r. raitt bcb dept, uwc, private bag x17, bellville, 7535...
TRANSCRIPT
Available at http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/
George Francis Rayner Ellis
G.R. RaittBCB Dept, UWC,Private Bag X17,Bellville, 7535
ObjectivesObjectives
To learn something about George Ellis – a famous South African scientist.
To develop an understanding of the scientific method.
BirthBirth
11 August 1939[1]
Johannesburg, South Africa[2]
Parents: George Rayner Ellis and Gwendoline Hilda MacRobert Ellis[2]
Higher EducationHigher Education B.Sc.(Hons) and B.Com.(Hons)
at the University of Cape Town (UCT)[3, 4]
PhD. at the University of Cambridge in 1964 (at 25 years of age)[2, 4]
Ellis the SportsmanEllis the Sportsman Represented UCT in fencing, rowing
and flying[2]
On the St. John’s College rowing team at Cambridge[2, 5].
Ellis - Wandering AcademicEllis - Wandering Academic[2, 3, 6, 7][2, 3, 6, 7]
ReligionReligion The Quaker egalitarianism contrasted
strongly with Apartheid South Africa and attracted George Ellis.
He became a member of the Religious Society of Friends (Quakers) in 1974.[2]
QuakersQuakers
Founded in England in the mid1600s during Cromwell’s time[8].
Do not believe in fixed statements of belief (creeds).
Testimonies represent the principles Quakers live by.
The four most common tes-timonies are peace, equality, integrity and simplicity[9].
ActivismActivism George Ellis was an anti-apartheid activist.[2]
He co-authored ‘Low Income Housing Policy in South Africa.’[2, 3]
AwardsAwards
Various honoury degrees Various academic medals Star of South Africa Medal
(1999) (see picture) Templeton Prize (2004) NSTF 2004 award for
contributions to science and technology.
Order of Mapungubwe (Silver) (2006)[3]
Ellis the PhilanthropistEllis the Philanthropist
Ellis put half the Templeton Prize money into a trust fund which will be paid out to UCT after his death.
The other half of the prize money he gave away. The main beneficiaries were:
The Basic Income Grant Campaign
The Association for Educational Transformation
Quaker Organisations in South Africa.[4]
Ellis the PhilanthropistEllis the Philanthropist
The minor beneficiaries of the Templeton Prize money were:
The Michael Oak Waldorf School
The Cape Town Life Training Centre of the Kairos Foundation
The African Summer Theory Institute
The Imagine Cape Town project
An agricultural high school in the area of Viljoenskroon, Free State.
Hurdy Gurdy House
Selected Individuals.[4]
ResearchResearch
Cosmology
The history and philosophy of cosmology
Complex systems and the emergence of complexity
The human brain and behaviour
Science policy and developmental issues
Science and mathematics education
The relation of science to religion[3]
Hierarchy of SciencesHierarchy of Sciences Arthur Peacocke proposed a hierarchy of sciences based on
the increasing complexity of the entities studied. Murphy and Ellis present the following modified hierarchy.[10]
Geology, Ecology Psychology
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
Cosmology
Astrophysics
Metaphysics (Theology)
Ethics
Motivational Studies
Social & Applied Sciences
Observation 2
The Hypothetico-Deductive The Hypothetico-Deductive MethodMethod
Hypothesis
Observation 1
First ExerciseFirst Exercise
Read the paper “Physics, complexity and causality” by George Ellis.
What is Ellis’ observation?
First Exercise ContinuedFirst Exercise Continued
What theory does this observation confound (disprove)?
How does Ellis show that the theory is confounded (disproved)?
First Exercise ContinuedFirst Exercise Continued
How does Ellis modify the theory to accommodate his observation?
Scientific Research ProgrammesScientific Research Programmes The traditional scientific testing (the hypothetico-
deductive method) is only part of a scientific programme. Imre Lakatos set out the structure of a scientific
research programme as follows: The programme has a core theory that keeps it
together by supplying a general view of the things under investigation.
The core theory is ‘protected’ by auxiliary hypotheses.
The auxiliary hypotheses are tested using the hypothetico-deductive method and modified accordingly.
If the auxiliary hypothesis is altered just to avoid falsification, the change is said to be ‘ad hoc’ and is termed degenerative but if the change allows the prediction of a ‘novel’ (= new) fact it is termed progressive. [10, 12]
Evaluation of Scientific Evaluation of Scientific ProgrammesProgrammes
How does one choose between research programmes?
Lakatos recommends judging by whether the programme is progressive or degenerative (as previously defined for hypothesis adjustment ).[10, 12]
Second ExerciseSecond Exercise
Answer each question before you move to the next slide.
Can Science explain everything?
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued
George Ellis does not believe that science can explain everything.[10]
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued
Give some examples of things that science cannot explain.
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued
George Ellis believes that science cannot explain: thoughts and emotions though the brain
physics and biochemistry can be understood.
what caused the conditions that allowed the Hot Big Bang to occur. What the ultimate cause of everything is.[10]
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued
What possible explanations are there for the initial conditions that allowed the ‘Hot Big Bang’?
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued Murphy and Ellis list the following as possible
explanations for the initial conditions of the ‘Hot Big Bang’.
Pure Chance High Probability Necessity Universality Intelligent Design A combination of the above.
Ellis reasons that both chance and design can act via the other ways so the choice boils down to chance or design.[10]
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued
Can any of the theories suggested to explain the initial conditions for the ‘Hot Big Bang’ be proved scientifically?
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued
Ellis does not believe that the theories can be proved scientifically.[10]
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued
How would you decide between the theories?
Second Exercise ContinuedSecond Exercise Continued
Ellis believes the theories can be evaluated using Lakatos’ evaluation of scientific programmes.
The chance explanation does not lead to new facts but the metaphysics/theology explanation links with human behaviour.[10]
Final ExerciseFinal Exercise
Answer the following questions.
Does Ellis use the scientific method in the second exercise? Explain your answer.
Is the work of the second exercise science? Explain your answer.
ReferencesReferences 1. Wikipedia contributors. George Ellis [Internet]. Wikipedia, The
Free Encyclopedia; 2007 May 4, 00:10 UTC [cited 2007 May 10]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Ellis&oldid=128094170.
2. Lehr, D. 2004 March 18. Professor George Ellis: a man of many parts. Cape Argus. Available from: http://www.capeargus.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=377827.
3. Ellis, G.F.R. George F.R. Ellis [Internet]. Teaching and Research staff: Permanent and Long-term Contract, Maths Dept, UCT; Update Unknown but earliest 2006 [cited 2007 May 10]. Available from: http://www.mth.uct.ac.za/~ellis/.
4. Ellis, G.F.R. Statement by George F.R. Ellis [Internet]. Templeton Prize News Conference (March 17, 2004); Updated 2004 March [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://speakingoffaith.publicradio.org/programs/scienceandhope/ellisstatement.shtml.
ReferencesReferences 5. Lehr, D. Current news: George Ellis wins 2004 Templeton Prize
[Internet]. Templeton Prize, For Progress Toward Research or Discoveries about Spiritual Realities; Update 2004 March [cited 2007 May 10]. Available from: http://www.templetonprize.org/news_templetonprize_2004.html.
6. Anonymous. Profile: Going Home, George Ellis [Internet]. The Abdus Salam International Centre for Theoretical Physics. Update Uncertain 2003-2004 [Cited 2007 May 10]. Available from: http://www.ictp.trieste.it/~sci_info/News_from_ICTP/News_107/profile.html.
7. Anonymous. Presenters: George F.R. Ellis [Internet]. Nobel Conference 41 The Legacy of Einstein, September 27&28, 2005, Gustavus Adolphus College, Saint Peter, Minnesota USA; Updated 2007 [cited 2007 May 10]. Available from: http://www.gustavus.edu/events/nobelconference/2005/?pr=presenters/ellis.
ReferencesReferences
8. Wikipedia contributors. Quaker history [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2007 May 14, 07:31 UTC [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Quaker_history&oldid=130728578.
9. Wikipedia contributors. Religious Society of Friends [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2007 May 11, 13:32 UTC [cited 2007 May 16]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Religious_Society_of_Friends&oldid=130084163.
10. Murphy, N.C., Ellis, G.F.R. 1996. On the Moral Nature of the Universe. Minneapolis: Fortress Press. 268 p. 0-8006-2983-3 ISBN
11. Ellis, G.F.R. 2005. Physics, complexity and causality. Nature 435 (9 Jun.): 743.
ReferencesReferences
12. Wikipedia contributors. Imre Lakatos [Internet]. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia; 2007 May 5, 00:09 UTC [cited 2007 May 18]. Available from: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Imre_Lakatos&oldid=128325765.