Evolution and Transitions in Complexity

Gerard Jagers op Akkerhuis is driven by a passion for evolution and complexity, he studies the past, present and the future of the universe. Fundamental for his approach is a modern, scientific version of the classical Scala Naturae named the Operator Hierarchy. This hierarchy offers a mechanistic basis for the classification of objects in the world, connects biotic and abiotic evolution, and by extrapolation suggests future system kinds in evolution. Since 2013 Gerard has been involved in the artificial intelligence company 'Mind Construct'. Gerard obtained his Masters in Wageningen (1986, cum laude), received his first PhD in Ecotoxicology (Wageningen, 1993) and, seventeen years later, his second PhD in philosophy (Nijmegen, 2010). Gerard has (co-)authored over a hundred publications and has published two books: 'The operator hierarchy' and 'The pursuit of complexity'. He has been interviewed by a national newspaper in the series about "Controversial thinkers whose ideas can change our view of the world".

1. General Introduction. Part 1: The Operator Theory and Its Applications.- 2. Introducing the Operator Theory.- 3. Reflections on the Operator Theory.- 4. Darwinian Evolution: Process or Pattern? 5. Reflections on the Graph Representation of Darwinian Evolution.- 6. Generalising Darwinian Evolution by Using Its Smallest-Scale Representation as a Foundation.- 7. Critical Assessment Of Graph-Based Generalized Darwinism.- 8. The Role of Structural Criteria in Transitions Theory: A Focus on Organisms.- 9. In Defence of Gradualism.- 10. The Role of Structural Criteria in Transitions Theory: A Focus on Systems of Interacting Organisms.- 11. Major transitions, Operator Theory, and Human organization.- 12. Learning From Water: Two Complementary Definitions of the Concept of Life.- 13. Adding (Thermo)Dynamic Aspects to Definitions of Life.- 14. A Thermodynamic Account of the Emergence of Organised Matter.- 15. The Road to a Measurable Quantitative Understanding of Self-organization andEvolution.- Part 2:Discussion, Reflections, and Conclusions.- 16. General Discussion.- 17. What Comes Next? The Operator Theory as an Operationalisation of the Teilhardian View on Cosmogenesis.- 18. In Response to the Reflections of the Reviewers.- 19. Contributions to Open Challenges in Systems Theory and the Life Sciences.