Hello

I'm Çağrı Mert Bakırcı

PhD, Author, and Science Communicator

  • Age 30
  • Currently CEO @ Evrim Ağacı & Kreosus
  • E-mail [email protected]
  • PhD Texas Tech University
  • BS Middle East Technical University
  • Website evrimagaci.org

See Current CV

Hello! I’m Dr. Çağrı Mert Bakırcı-Taylor, founder and CEO of Tree of Evolution LLC, a social enterprise that encompasses the largest popular science organization in Turkey, Evrim Ağacı, as well as a multi-purpose crowdfunding platform for creators in Turkey and around the world, Kreosus. I am also a published author with best-seller books in science categories of various lists in Turkey. I am a science communicator and I try to incorporate all means of modern communication to be an interface between academicians and general public. You can find more about me and my work on this website.

Publications

The Handbook of a Skeptic

Book

Şüphecinin El Kitabı

Book

Publisher
Ginko Bilim
ISBN
9786058023116
Page Count
424
Year
2019
Language
Turkish

Şüphecinin El Kitabı (The Handbook of a Skeptic) is a book on scientific skepticism and critical thinking. My co-author and I talk about the importance of skepticism during scientific inquiry and we go into the details of common logical fallacies, the principles behind meaningful debates, and a deep analysis of 33 common hoaxes and pseudoscience claims.

The Earth Museum

Book

Yeryüzü Müzesi

Book

Publisher
İthaki Yayınevi
ISBN
9786053757573
Page Count
312
Year
2018
Language
Turkish

In Yeryüzü Müzesi (Earth Museum) I contributed with a utopian sci-fi story. The book consists of 18 short sci-fi stories by some of the most prolific Turkish sci-fi authors and the book features an introduction by Ursula K. Le Guin. My story paints a future where technological advancements allowed humanity to better themselves, instead of destroying our future.

The Light of Evolution in the Darkness of the Universe

Book

Evrenin Karanlığında Evrimin Işığı

Book

Publisher
Ginko Bilim
ISBN
9786058111110
Page Count
616
Year
2017
Language
Turkish

Evrenin Karanlığında Evrimin Işığı (The Light of Evolution in the Darkness of the Universe) is my second book; however, in this book, I have collaborated with 8 other experts who are professionally trained in fields of evolutionary biology, mathematical evolution, population genetics, geology, paleontology, ecology, botany, ethology, entomology, anthropology, archaeology, evolutionary medicine, and/or evolutionary engineering. In each chapter, we discuss the relation of evolutionary biology to each of the respective fields of science to investigate the importance and relevance of evolution to the rest of the scientific fields. This book is an attempt to answer the question of why we should learn evolution, beyond the mere fact that it is a law of nature – we attempt to show how central and important evolution is to science.

Ideas On Love

Book

Ideas About Love

Book

Publisher
İkaros Yayınevi
ISBN
9786055717605
Page Count
576
Year
2015
Language
Turkish

This is a collection of articles and essays on the topic of love in general. The collection includes various Turkish authors, thinkers, and philosophers such as Afşar Timuçin, Küçük İskender, and Ahmet İnam, as well as international counterparts such as Plato, Rumi, and Francis Bacon. I contributed to this collection with a chapter that talks about the biological underpinnings of love, its evolutionary history and chemical mechanisms.

The Theory and Mechanisms of Evolution

Book

Evrim Kuramı ve Mekanizmaları

Book

Publisher
Ginko Bilim
ISBN
9786056732249
Page Count
292
Year
2014
Language
Turkish

Evrim Kuramı ve Mekanizmaları (The Theory and Mechanisms of Evolution) is my first book that has seen more than 10 editions in Turkey and sold thousands of copies, becoming a best-seller science book in the country in multiple top tier bookstores. It aims to teach the basic mechanisms of evolution by spending one chapter on each mechanism (and one chapter on scientific method and the origin of life), starting with a realistic story that relates to the mechanism investigated, making it much easier to understand by a wider audience.

Important Milestones

February 2018

Evrim Ağacı as a Social Enterprise

Tree of Evolution LLC

My wife and I restructed Evrim Ağacı as a social enterprise, and we decided to continue our work in the realm of science education and popular science in order to increase public awareness about science.

9 September 2018

Married to my Best Friend

Ashlee Lane Bakırcı-Taylor

I have been lucky enough to get married to my best friend. Now, we work on Evrim Ağacı together to increase the science awareness among general audiences.

2013-2018

Philosophy of Science

Texas Tech University

During my PhD, I worked on a unified Theory of Algorithmic Evolution, studied the effects of fitness functions and a priori knowledge injection on algorithm performance, and built a novel test setup to explore the Reality Gap.

September-October 2011

Visiting Researcher Internship

Denmark Technical University

I worked on various approaches to biomimetics of self-organization and self-healing, analyzed the layer production of mussel shells and jewel beetles, and the behaviors of starling flocks to come up with novel self-healing and self-organizing methods. My work during this internship is acknowledged in a textbook publication.

August-September 2010

Visiting Researcher Internship

Carnegie Mellon University

I worked on a “Water Strider Robot” that can stay and move on the surface of water without sinking, by mimicking Gerridae family. Contributed to the structural optimization, body design, and microcircuitry.

5 November 2010

Founded Evrim Ağacı

Evrim Ağacı

Evrim Ağacı ("Tree of Evolution") was founded by me and a couple friends of mine in Biology Department at METU, under the Biology and Genetics Society of the university, to educate ourselves and others on evolutionary biology and general science.

2007-2013

Bachelor of Science

Middle East Technical University

I received my Bachelor of Science from the Mechanical Engineering Department. During my undergraduate, I also took as many as 10 classes from Biology Department and Geology Department to improve myself in evolutionary biology. I gained experience in various biology and engineering labs.

2004 - 2007

High School

Milli Piyango Anatolian High School

During my high school years, I got increasingly more interested in book writing, content creation, and science communication. My interest in biology grew and as a result, these years set my future career directions.

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Contact Me

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