Tyler Volk
Biography
Tyler Volk is a professor at NYU exploring complexity across scales. His 2017 work "Quarks to Culture: How We Came to Be" examines what he terms "combogenesis" -- the mechanism creating organizational levels from elementary particles through human civilization. He proposes that physics and chemistry generated biological evolution, which in turn produced cultural evolution. Prior publications include "CO2 Rising: The World's Greatest Environmental Challenge" (2008), "Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth" (1998), and "Metapatterns Across Space, Time, and Mind" (1995). He has received NYU's Distinguished Teaching Award and Golden Dozen Award.
Sample Works
- Quarks to Culture: How We Came to Be (2017) Book
- CO2 Rising: The World's Greatest Environmental Challenge (2008) Book
- Gaia's Body: Toward a Physiology of Earth (2003) Book
- Metapatterns: Across Space, Time, and Mind (1995) Book
Roundtable Appearances
May 20, 2017 · ▶ Video
Complexity and Emergence II: Visions of Cosmic Order, from Particles to People
The roundtable explores "what principles of order underlie the ascent of complexity, from the simplest particles of physics heralding the birth of the universe, through biological...
William Grassie, David Grinspoon, Tim Maudlin, Ilya Temkin, Tyler Volk