George Francis Rayner Ellis
G.R. Raitt
BCB Dept, UWC,
Private Bag X17,
Bellville, 7535
[email protected]
Available at http://planet.uwc.ac.za/nisl/
Objectives
To learn something about George
Ellis – a famous South African
scientist.
 To develop an understanding of the
scientific method.

Birth



11 August 1939[1]
Johannesburg,
South Africa[2]
Parents: George
Rayner Ellis and
Gwendoline
Hilda MacRobert
Ellis[2]
Higher 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 Sportsman
Represented UCT in fencing, rowing
and flying[2]
 On the St. John’s College rowing
team at Cambridge[2, 5].

Ellis - Wandering Academic[2, 3, 6, 7]
Religion
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]

Quakers




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 testimonies are peace, equality,
integrity and simplicity[9].
Activism


George Ellis was an anti-apartheid activist.[2]
He co-authored ‘Low Income Housing Policy in
South Africa.’[2, 3]
Awards



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

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 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 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]
Research

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
Hierarchy 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]
Metaphysics (Theology)
Ethics
Cosmology
Motivational Studies
Astrophysics
Social & Applied Sciences
Geology, Ecology
Psychology
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
The hypothetico-deductive
method
Hypothesis
Observation 1
Observation 2
First Exercise

Read the paper “Physics, complexity
and causality” by George Ellis.

What is Ellis’ observation?
First Exercise Continued

What theory does this observation
confound (disprove)?

How does Ellis show that the theory
is confounded (disproved)?
First Exercise Continued

How does Ellis modify the theory to
accommodate his observation?
Scientific Research Programmes



The traditional scientific testing (the hypotheticodeductive 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
Programmes
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 Exercise

Answer each question before you
move to the next slide.

Can Science explain everything?
Second Exercise Continued

George Ellis does not believe that
science can explain everything.[10]
Second Exercise Continued

Give some examples of things that
science cannot explain.
Second 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 Continued

What possible explanations are there
for the initial conditions that allowed
the ‘Hot Big Bang’?
Second 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 Continued

Can any of the theories suggested to
explain the initial conditions for the
‘Hot Big Bang’ be proved
scientifically?
Second Exercise Continued

Ellis does not believe that the
theories can be proved
scientifically.[10]
Second Exercise Continued

How would you decide between the
theories?
Second 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 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.
References




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=12809
4170.
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/ell
isstatement.shtml.
References



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/profil
e.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=present
ers/ellis.
References




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=130
728578.
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_Frie
nds&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.
References

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=1283
25765.