George F.R. Ellis, professor of applied mathematics at the
University of Cape Town, is a theoretical cosmologist
specializing in general relativity theory, an area first broadly
investigated by Albert Einstein. Dr. Ellis is considered to be
among a handful of the world's leading relativistic
cosmologists, which includes luminaries such as Stephen Hawking
and Malcolm MacCallum. His first book, The Large Scale
Structure of Space-Time, written with Stephen Hawking and
published in 1973, continues to be a standard reference work on
the subject. His most recent investigations question whether or
not there was ever a start to the universe and if there is
indeed only one universe or many.
Dr. Ellis's bold and innovative contributions to the dialogue
at the boundary of theology and science led to his being named
the 34th Templeton Prize Laureate. He has advocated balancing
the rationality of evidence-based science with faith and hope, a
view shaped in part by his firsthand experiences in South Africa
as it peacefully transformed from apartheid to multiracial
democracy without succumbing to racial civil war.
His work on the origin of the universe, evolution of
complexity, the functioning of the human mind, and how and where
they intersect with areas beyond the boundaries of science has
been covered in such books as On the Moral Nature of the
Universe, written with Nancey Murphy.
Ellis contends that there are many areas that cannot be
accounted for by physics. Directly challenging the notion that
the powers of science are limitless, Ellis notes the inability
of even the most advanced physics to fully explain factors that
shape the physical world, including human thoughts, emotions,
and social constructions such as the laws of chess. He comments
that this is not a claim on behalf of vitalism: rather it is a
simple statement of fact about present-day science.
Dr. Ellis's recent books include The Universe Around Us:
An Integrative View of Science and Cosmology, which
compares the natural and life sciences, and The Far-Future
Universe, edited from the proceedings of a 2002 symposium
at the Pontifical Academy of Sciences examining cosmological,
biological, human, and theological aspects of the future.
selected books
The Far-Future Universe
Templeton Foundation Press (2002)
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On the Moral Nature of the Universewith Nancey Murphy. Augsburg Fortress Publishers (1996)
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The Large Scale Structure of Space-TimeCambridge University Press; New Ed edition (1975)
Buy at Amazon
other related websites
Templeton Prize
http://www.templetonprize.org/
