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Advanced Track, Overview Further material related to the subject of cosmic evolution is available at: Site Summary http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~ejchaisson including a collection of recent research papers easily accessed and downloadable at: This Advanced Track provides a technical http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~ejchaisson/current_research.pdf supplement to the introductory web site on cosmic evolution, produced by Eric Chaisson and based on Some representative, relevant publications: Chaisson, E.J., Cosmic Evolution: Rise of Complexity in Nature, courses taught mainly at Harvard University for Harvard University Press, Cambridge, 2001. the past few decades: Chaisson, E.J., “Unifying Concept for Astrobiology,” Int. J. http://www.cfa.harvard.edu/~ejchaisson/cosmic_evolution/docs/splash.html Astrobio, v2, p91, 2003; DOI:10.1017/S1473550403001484 Chaisson, E.J., “Cosmic Evolution: State of the Science,” in Cosmos & Culture, Dick & Lupisella (eds), NASA Press, 2009. Currently, this Advanced Track is abbreviated Chaisson, E.J., “Exobiology and Complexity,” in Encyclopedia of Complexity & Systems Science, Meyers (ed.), Springer, 2009. while addressing mainly the concept of energy Chaisson, E.J., “Energy Rate Density as a Complexity Metric and rate density—a numerical quantity proposed as a Evolutionary Driver,” Complexity, v16, p27, 2011; DOI:10.1002/cplx.20323 useful complexity metric for an underlying, Chaisson, E.J., “Energy Rate Density. II. Probing Further a New unifying process that guides the origin, evolution, Complexity Metric,” Complexity, v17, p44, 2011; DOI:10.1002/cplx.20373 and destiny of all organized systems across the Chaisson, E.J., “Using Complexity Science to Search for Unity in arrow of time, from big bang to humankind. In the Natural Sciences”, in Complexity and the Arrow of Time Lineweaver et al. (eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2013. 2015, this supplement will grow dramatically, Chaisson, E.J., “A Singular Universe of Many Singularities: providing much more pertinent technical material Cultural Evolution in a Cosmic Context”, in Singularity Hypotheses: A Scientific and Philosophical Assessment, Eden, at an advanced, quantitative level (suitable for et al., (eds.), The Frontiers Collection, Springer, Berlin, 2013. colleague scientists and graduate students) well YOUTUBE postings from Moscow and Cambridge, 2012: beyond that presented in the above-linked http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jbXzmPWCMIM introductory web site (which is meant for non- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ChAmeRD3b-I scientists and beginning students). This material is ©2013, by Eric J. Chaisson http:www.cfa.harvard.edu/~ejchaisson/cosmic_evolution/docs/splash.html Site Summary - 1 .

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Energy Rate Density As a Complexity Metric and Evolutionary Driver
Energy Rate Density as a Complexity Metric and Evolutionary Driver E. J. CHAISSON Wright Center and Physics Department, Tufts University, Medford, Massachusetts and Harvard College Observatory, Harvard University, Cambridge, Massachusetts Received March 8, 2010; revised April 1, 2010; accepted April 5, 2010 The proposition that complexity generally increases with evolution seems indisputable. Both developmental and generational changes often display a rise in the number and diversity of properties describing a wide spectrum of ordered systems, whether physical, biological, or cultural. This article explores a quantitative metric that can help to explain the emergence and evolution of galaxies, stars, planets, and life throughout the history of the Universe. Energy rate density is a single, measurable, and unambiguous quantity uniformly characterizing Nature’s many varied complex systems, potentially dictating their natural selection on vast spatial and temporal scales. Ó 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. Complexity 16: 27–40, 2011 Key Words: energy; complexity; evolution; thermodynamics; universe 1. PRE` CIS OF COSMIC EVOLUTION philosopher Heraclitus, who arguably made the best ob- or nearly three decades, I have endeavored to servation ever while noting that ‘‘everything flows and F strengthen our modern understanding of the scientific nothing stays.’’ This remarkably simple idea is now essen- interdiscipline of cosmic evolution. This is an inclu- tially confirmed by modern scientific reasoning and much sive worldview that chronicles the origin and evolution of supporting data. As recently summarized [1, 2], I have galaxies, stars, planets, and life, especially as pertains to sought to undergird this broad, integrated subject with humanity on Earth and our place in the Universe.
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Big History: a Working Bibliography of References, Films & Internet Sites
Big History: A Working Bibliography of References, Films & Internet Sites Assembled by Barry Rodrigue & Daniel Stasko University of Southern Maine (USA) Index Books & Articles on Big History…………………………………………...2–9 Works that Anticipated Big History……………………………………....10–11 Works on Aspects of Big History…………………………………………12–36 Cosmology & Planetary Studies…………. 12–14 Physical Sciences………………………… 14–15 Earth & Atmospheric Sciences…………… 15–16 Life Sciences…………………………….. 16–20 Ecology…………………………………... 20–21 Human Social Sciences…………………… 21–33 Economics, Technology & Energy……….. 33–34 Historiography……………………………. 34–36 Philosophy……………………………….... 36 Popular Journalism………………………... 36 Creative Writing………………………….. 36 Internet & Fim Resources on Big History………………………………… 37–38 1 Books & Articles about Big History Adams, Fred; Greg Laughlin. 1999. The Five Ages of the Universe: Inside the Physics of Eternity. New York: The Free Press. Alvarez, Walter; P. Claeys, and A. Montanari. 2009. “Time-Scale Construction and Periodizing in Big History: From the Eocene-Oligocene Boundary to All of the Past.” Geological Society of America, Special Paper # 452: 1–15. Ashrafi, Babak. 2007. “Big History?” Positioning the History of Science, pp. 7–11, Kostas Gavroglu and Jürgen Renn (editors). Dordrecht: Springer. Asimov, Isaac. 1987. Beginnings: The Story of Origins of Mankind, Life, the Earth, the Universe. New York, Berkeley Books. Aunger, Robert. 2007. “Major Transitions in “Big’ History.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 74 (8): 1137–1163. —2007. “A Rigorous Periodization of ‘Big’ History.” Technological Forecasting and Social Change 74 (8): 1164–1178. Benjamin, Craig. 2004. “Beginnings and Endings” (Chapter 5). Palgrave Advances: World History, pp. 90–111, M. Hughes-Warrington (editor). London and New York: Palgrave/Macmillan. —2009. “The Convergence of Logic, Faith and Values in the Modern Creation Myth.” Evolutionary Epic: Science’s Story and Humanity’s Response, C.
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Edited by Steven J. Dick and Mark L. Lupisella
Edited by Steven J. Dick and Mark L. Lupisella NASA SP-2009-4802 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Cosmos and Culture : Cultural Evolution in a Cosmic Context / Steven J. Dick and Mark Lupisella, editors. p. cm. -- (NASA SP ; 4802) Includes bibliographical references and index. 1. Cosmology--History. 2. Astronomy--History. 3. Culture--Origin. 4. Social evolution. 5. Human evolution. I. Dick, Steven J. II. Lupisella, Mark. QB981.C8263 2009 523.109--dc22 2009004348 ISBN 978-0-16-083119-5 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 9 0 0 0 0 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 ISBN 978-0-16-083119-5 9 780160 831195 ISBN 978-0-16-083119-5 For sale by the Superintendent of Documents, U.S. Government Printing Office Internet: bookstore.gpo.gov Phone: toll free (866) 512-1800; DC area (202) 512-1800 9 0 0 0 0 Fax: (202) 512-2104 Mail: Stop IDCC, Washington, DC 20402-0001 ISBN 978-0-16-083119-5 9 780160 831195 Table of Contents Introduction – Steven J. Dick and Mark L. Lupisella v Part 1: The Cosmic Context Chapter 1 – Eric J. Chaisson Cosmic Evolution State of the Science 3 Chapter 2 – Steven J. Dick Cosmic Evolution History, Culture, and Human Destiny 25 Part 2: Cultural Evolution Chapter 3 – Kathryn Denning Social Evolution State of the Field 63 Chapter 4 – Daniel C. Dennett The Evolution of Culture 125 Chapter 5 – Howard Bloom The Big Burp and the Multiplanetary Mandate 145 Chapter 6 – John M.
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Introduction Big History's Big Potential
Introduction Big History’s Big Potential Leonid E. Grinin, David Baker, Esther Quaedackers, and Andrey V. Korotayev Big History has been developing very fast indeed. We are currently ob- serving a ‘Cambrian explosion’ in terms of its popularity and diffusion. Big History courses are taught in the schools and universities of several dozen countries, including China, Korea, the Netherlands, the USA, In- dia, Russia, Japan, Australia, Great Britain, Germany, and many more. The International Big History Association (IBHA) is gaining momentum in its projects and membership. Conferences are beginning to be held regularly (this edited volume has been prepared on the basis of the pro- ceedings of the International Big History Association Inaugural Confer- ence [see below for details]). Hundreds of researchers are involved in studying and teaching Big History. What is Big History? And why is it becoming so popular? Accord- ing to the working definition of the IBHA, ‘Big History seeks to under- stand the integrated history of the Cosmos, Earth, Life and Humanity, using the best available empirical evidence and scholarly methods’. The need to see this process of development holistically, in its origins and growing complexity, is fundamental to what drives not only science but also the human imagination. This shared vision of the grand narrative is one of the most effective ways to conceptualize and integrate our growing knowledge of the Universe, society, and human thought. Moreover, without using ‘mega-paradigms’ like Big History, scientists working in different fields may run the risk of losing sight of how each other's tireless work connects and contributes to their own.
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HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY Astro E-8 COSMIC
HARVARD COLLEGE OBSERVATORY Cambridge, Massachusetts 02138 Astro E-8 COSMIC EVOLUTION: The Origins of Matter and Life Instructor: Dr. Eric J. Chaisson, Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics Meets Wednesdays, 7:45 - 9:45 pm, Harvard College Observatory, 60 Garden St., Phillips Auditorium, Bldg. D, across from Radcliffe Quad. Course Abstract: Evolution of the Universe, from its beginning in a cosmic expansion to the emergence of life on Earth and possibly other planets. Big-bang cosmology, origin and evolution of galaxies, stars, planets, life, and society. Scientific discussion of Nature writ large, from quarks to quasars, microbes to minds. Materials largely descriptive, based on insights from physics, astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology, and anthropology. Course Description: This broad survey course combines the essential ingredients of astrophysics and biochemistry to create an interdisciplinary synthesis called “cosmic evolution." Directed mainly toward non-science students, the course addresses, from a scientific viewpoint, some of the time-honored philosophical issues including who we are, whence we've come, and how we fit into cosmic scheme things. Our primary objective is to gain an appreciation for the origin of matter and the origin of life, while seeking unification throughout the natural sciences. The course divides into three segments: • Part I (~10% of the course) introduces some basic concepts, notably those scientific principles needed for the remainder of the course. • Part II (~40% the course) is heavily astronomical, using the concept of space to describe the many varied objects populating the Universe, from nearby planets to distant galaxies; this spatial theme serves as an inventory, explicating known material systems throughout the cosmos.
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Eric Chaisson Tufts University
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Not Yet Imagined: a Study of Hubble Space Telescope Operations
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Astronomy Today 8E
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What Is Big History?
What is Big History? David Christian Distinguished Professor and Director of the Big History Institute Macquarie University As they err who study the maps of that includes the pasts studied by biologists, regions before they have learned paleontologists, geologists and cosmologists. By accurately the relation of the whole linking different perspectives and scales, and universe and the separate parts of it to many different scholarly disciplines, all of which each other and to the whole, so they are try to understand the deep roots of today’s world, not less mistaken who think they can big history can transform our understanding of understand particular histories before “history.” they have judged the order and sequence of universal history and of all times, set However, to fully capture the richness and range of forth as it were in a table.1 teaching, we will eventually need the perspectives Big history represents an attempt at what E.O. ofthis big vibrant historians new trainedfield of research,in many other scholarship disciplines. and Wilson has called “consilience,” a return to the I hope this essay may encourage such scholars to offer their distinctive perspectives on big history. of the fragmented visions that dominate modern educationgoal of a unified and scholarship. understanding2 Though of reality, it may in seemplace The evolution of historical scholarship in the new, the goal of consilience is very old. And twentieth century even in its modern forms, big history has been around for at least a quarter of a century. So the Historians will recognize that my title comes Journal of Big from a classic essay on history, studied by most History provides the ideal opportunity for a stock Anglophone history graduates.
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Free Energy Rate Density and Self-organization in Complex Systems Article published in the Lecture Notes in Computer Science Springer Proceedings of the European Conference on Complex Systems, Lucca, Italy, September, 2014. Georgi Yordanov Georgiev 1,2,3* , Erin Gombos 1,4 , Timothy Bates 1, Kaitlin Henry 1, Alexander Casey 1,5 , Michael Daly 1,6 , 1Physics Department, Assumption College, 500 Salisbury St, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA 2Physics Department, Tufts University, 4 Colby St, Medford, MA, 02155, USA 3Department of Physics, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, Worcester, MA, 01609, USA 4Current address: National Cancer Institute, NIH, 10 Center Drive, Bethesda, MD 20814 5Current address: University of Notre Dame, Notre Dame, IN 46556, USA 6Current address: Meditech, 550 Cochituate Rd, Framingham, MA 01701, USA *Corresponding author. Emails: [email protected] ; [email protected] Abstract. One of the most important tasks in science is to understand the self- organization’s arrow of time. To attempt this we utilize the connection between self-organization and non-equilibrium thermodynamics. Eric Chaisson calculated an exponential increase of Free Energy Rate Density (FERD) in Cosmic Evolution, from the Big Bang until now, paralleling the increase of systems’ structure. We term these studies “Devology”. We connect FERD to the principle of least action for complex systems, driving their increase of action efficiency. We study CPUs as a specific system in which the organization, the total amount of action and FERD are connected in a positive feedback loop, providing exponential growth of all three and power law relations between them. This is a deep connection, reaching to the first principles of physics: the least action principle and the second law of thermodynamics.
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Complexity: an Energetics Agenda
Complexity: An Energetics Agenda Energy as the Motor of Evolution 1. INTRODUCTION rom galaxies to snowflakes, from stars and planets to life itself, modern science is weaving an intricate pattern describing all of natural history—a sweepingly F inclusive view of the order and structure of every known class of object in our richly endowed Universe. Cosmic evolution—the heart of this broad scenario—is the study of the sum total of the many varied developmental and generational changes in the assembly and composition of radiation, matter, and life throughout all space and across all time. These are the physical, biological, and cultural changes that have produced, in turn and among other systems, our Galaxy, our Sun, our Earth, and ourselves. The result is a grand evolutionary synthesis bridging a wide variety of scientific specialties—physics, astronomy, geology, chemistry, biology, and anthro- pology, among others—a genuine narrative of epic proportions extending from the beginning of time to the present, from big bang to humankind. ERIC J. CHAISSON Our appreciation for evolution now extends well beyond the subject of biology; the concept of evolution, generally considered, has become a powerful unifying factor in all of science. Yet questions remain: How valid are the interdisciplinary continuities among Nature’s many historical epochs, and how realistic is our quest Eric J. Chaisson is at the Wright Center, for unification among them? Can we reconcile the observed constructiveness of Tufts University, 4 Colby Street, cosmic evolution with the inherent destructiveness of thermodynamics? Is there a Medford, Massachusetts; e-mail: single driver of fundamental change writ large? We especially want to know more [email protected]; Website: about the origins of the richly ordered and diverse structures spanning both the www.tufts.edu/as/wright_center.
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Page 1 Origins: VI 1 January 2016
Origins: VI 1 January 2016 Page 1 Table of Contents Empiricism is Not a Dirty Word Letter to the Editor .............................................................. 14 Elise Bohan New and Returning IBHA Members .................................. 15 Macquarie University ........... 3 Call for Papers for the 2016 IBHA Conference at the University of Amsterdam .................................... 16 The Meaning of Big History, Board Nominations ............................................................ 22 Philosophically Speaking Macquarie University Expands Big History....................... 23 Cynthia Stokes Brown Dominican University of California ............ 7 Goals for Origins ................................................................. 24 Related Conference ............................................................. 26 Notice of New Book ............................................................ 27 On the cover is a graphic of the character, Ava, from “Ex Post-IBHA Conference Tour ............................................... 28 Machina,” a 2015 British science fiction film that tells the story of a programmer who administers the Turing test to an android with artificial intelligence. The film raises questions about transhumanism and the future of emergent complexity, topics explored by Elise Bohan. Origins Editor: Lowell Gustafson, Villanova University, Pennsylvania (USA) Origins. ISSN 2377-7729 Thank you for your Associate Cynthia Brown, Dominican University of California (USA) membership in Editor: Esther Quaedackers,
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