How Can Physics Underlie the Mind?

George Ellis, FRS, is one of the world’s leading researchers in general relativity theory and cosmology. He is Emeritus Distinguished Professor of Complex Systems in the Department of Mathematics and Applied Mathematics at the University of Cape Town in South Africa. He co-authored The Large Scale Structure of Space-Time with Cambridge physicist Stephen Hawking.

Complexity and Emergence.- Digital Computer Systems.- The Basis of Complexity.- Different Kinds of Top-Down Effects.- Room at the Bottom?.- The Foundations: Physics and Top-Down Causation.- The Mind and the Brain.- The Broader View.

"Ellis (emer., Univ. of Cape Town, South Africa), a world-renowned expert in theoretical physics, presents an impressive and persuasive set of arguments for top-down causation and a non-reductive ontology, which he bases on a broad array of recent research results. ... Summing Up:  Recommended. Lower-division undergraduates and above; professionals." (T. Eastman, Choice, Vol. 54 (5), January, 2017)

"In this magnum opus ... George Ellis lays out the case for top-down causation from an emergentist perspective. ... This book is an indispensable resource for anyone who seriously ponders the structure of the universe, the miracle of life, and the mystery of consciousness." (Randy Isaac, Perspectives on Science and Christian Faith, Vol. 69 (2), 2017)