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Dean is professor of history and philosophy of modern physics at the University of Sydney, where he also co-directs the Centre for Time. He has a wide range of research interests, including musicology, economics, psychology, theology, architecture, AI, and cybernetics.

Experience

  • 2007–present
    ARC Senior Australian Research Fellow, The University of Sydney
  • 2014–present
    Professor, The University of Sydney
  • 2013–2018
    Future Fellow, The University of Sydney
  • 2005–2007
    Postdoctoral fellow, Canadian Institute of Health Research

Education

  • 2005 
    University of Leeds, PhD

Publications

  • 2022
    Life is Short: An Appropriately Brief Guide to Making it More Meaningful, Princeton University Press
  • 2021
    Dual-Aspect Monism and the Deep Structure of Meaning, Routledge
  • 2020
    What is Philosophy of Science?, Polity Press
  • 2020
    Covered with Deep Mist: The Development of Quantum Gravity, Volume I, 1916-1956., Oxford University Press
  • 2018
    Quantum Gravity in the First Half of the 20th Century: A Sourcebook, Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Knowledge
  • 2017
    Thinking about Science, Reflecting on Art, Routledge
  • 2016
    Philosophy of Physics, Polity Press
  • 2016
    Information and Interaction: Eddington, Wheeler, and the Limits of Knowledge, Springer
  • 2014
    A Brief History of String Theory: From Dual Models to M-Theory., Springer
  • 2012
    Structural Realism: Structure, Object, and Causality, Springer
  • 2011
    The Role of Gravitation in Physics: Report from the 1957 Chapel Hill Conference (with Cecile DeWitt), Max Planck Research Library for the History and Development of Science,
  • 2008
    The Ashgate Companion to Contemporary Philosophy of Physics, Ashgate,
  • 2007
    Symmetry, Structure, and Spacetime, North Holland: Elsevier,
  • 2006
    The Structural Foundations of Quantum Gravity (Co-edited with Steven French and Juha Saatsi), Oxford: Clarendon Press,

Grants and Contracts

  • 2021
    The Development of Quantum Gravity: The Great Divide' (2021-2026)
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council
  • 2021
    Wandering Mazes Lost: Investigating Arguments over the Problem of Existence
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    John Templeton Foundation
  • 2018
    Radical Conservative: A Biography of John Archibald Wheeler
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Foundational Questions Institute
  • 2014
    Explorations in Quantum Gravity
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council
  • 2012
    New Agendas for the Study of Time: Con- necting the Disciplines
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    John Templeton Foundation
  • 2009
    The Development of Quantum Gravity
    Role:
    Chief Investigator
    Funding Source:
    Australian Research Council

Professional Memberships

  • Foundational Questions Institute

Research Areas

  • History And Philosophy Of Specific Fields (2202)
  • Field Theory And String Theory (020602)