astronomy

Paul Cilliers

Paul Cilliers is a astronomy topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Paul Cilliers rather than just read about it. In short: Friedrich Paul Cilliers (25 December 1956 – 31 July 2011) was a South-African philosopher, complexity researcher, and Professor in Complexity and Philosophy at Stellenbosch University. He was known for his contributions in the field of complex systems.

Key takeaways

Paul Cilliers belongs to astronomy; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Paul Cilliers to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Paul Cilliers from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Friedrich Paul Cilliers (25 December 1956 – 31 July 2011) was a South-African philosopher, complexity researcher, and Professor in Complexity and Philosophy at Stellenbosch University. He was known for his contributions in the field of complex systems.

Biography Cilliers studied at Stellenbosch University from mid-1970s to 1994. There he received his BA in Electronic Engineering in 1980, his BA cum laude in Political Philosophy in 1987, and his MA cum laude in Philosophy in 1989. Eventually he received his PhD in 1994 from Stellenbosch University and Cambridge University under supervision of Johan Degenaar and Mary Hesse. Cilliers started his academic career at Stellenbosch University, where in 1993 he became a lecturer in philosophy. Since 2003 he was Professor of Complexity and Philosophy at Stellenbosch. In the year 2008 he was Visiting Professor at the University of Humanistic Studies in Utrecht in the Netherlands. In 2006 Cilliers was awarded the Harry Oppenheimer Fellowship Award in recognition of his achievements in developing a general understanding of the characteristics and nature of complex systems. In 2008 the National Research Foundation of South Africa awarded him an A-rating, and in 2010 he was elected fellow of the Royal Society of South Africa.

Work Cilliers' research specialisation was on complexity, ethical implications of complexity theory and philosophy of science. In his book Complexity and Postmodernism he takes a postmodern approach to complexity.

Publications Cilliers authored and co-authored numerous publications in the field of philosophy and complexity science. Books, a selection:

1998. Complexity and Postmodernism. Understanding complex systems. London: Routledge. 2007. Thinking Complexity. Paul Cilliers (ed.). Mansfield USA : ISCE Publishing. 2009: Complexity, Difference and Identity. An ethical perspective. Paul Cilliers and Rika Allen. (eds.) Articles, a selection:

Cilliers, Paul. "Knowledge, complexity, and understanding." Emergence, A Journal of Complexity Issues in Organizations and Management 2.4 (2000): 7-13. Cilliers, Paul (2000). "What can we learn from a theory of complexity?" (PDF). Emergence. 2 (1): 23–33. doi:10.1207/S15327000EM0201_03. Cilliers, Paul (2001). "Boundaries, hierarchies and networks in complex systems" (PDF). International Journal of Innovation Management. 5 (2): 135–147. doi:10.1142/S1363919601000312. Richardson, Kurt A., Paul Cilliers, and Michael Lissack. "Complexity Science." Emergence 3.2 (2001): 6-18. Cilliers, Paul. "Complexity, deconstruction and relativism." Theory, Culture & Society 22.5 (2005): 255-267. Heylighen, Francis, Paul Cilliers, and Carlos Gershenson. "Complexity and philosophy." arXiv preprint cs/0604072 (2006).

References

External links

Cilliers website at the Centre for Studies in Complexity

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Paul Cilliers

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Paul Cilliers claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In astronomy, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Paul Cilliers before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Paul Cilliers ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Paul Cilliers

In research: Paul Cilliers appears in astronomy research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Paul Cilliers in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Paul Cilliers is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1956 births, 2011 deaths, Academic staff of Stellenbosch University, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Paul Cilliers outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

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How to study Paul Cilliers in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Paul Cilliers means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Paul Cilliers out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Paul Cilliers in simple terms?

Why does Paul Cilliers matter?

Because it connects several astronomy ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Paul Cilliers?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Paul Cilliers.