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Nicholas P. Money

Biographical Information

He is the Director of the Western Program and Professor of Biology. He is a fungal biologist and science writer. His most recent books are, The Rise of Yeast: How the Sugar Fungus Shaped Civilization (OUP, 2018), and The Selfish Ape: Human Nature and Our Path to Extinction (Reaktion, 2019). In addition to his scientific interests, he is a self-described expert on the poetry of John Milton.

Nik is an expert on mycology and has authored a number of books that celebrate the diversity of the microbial world. In his research at Miami, he has pioneered the use of high-speed video microscopy to understand the explosive mechanisms used by fungi to launch their spores into the air.

He says: "My research and teaching are defined by my love of science and belief in its power to make sense of life, the universe, and everything else." His engagement in the Western Program has allowed him to explore his wider interests in the relationship between science and the arts.

Publications

• Money, N. P. 2021. Nature Fast and Nature Slow: How Life Works from Fractions of a Second to Billions of Years. Reaktion Books, London & University of Chicago Press.
• Money, N. P. 2019. The Selfish Ape: Human Nature and Our Path to Extinction. Reaktion Books, London & University of Chicago Press, & translations published in Italian, Turkish, Japanese, & Chinese.
• Money, N. P. 2018. The Rise of Yeast: How the Sugar Fungus Shaped Civilization. Oxford University Press, Oxford & New York.
• Money, N. P. 2022. Action and inertia in the study of hyphal growth. Fungal Biology Reviews41: 24-30.
• Money, N. P. and Fischer, M. W. F. 2021. Weighing amoebas. The American Biology Teacher83: 571-574.
• Money, N. P. 2021. Hyphal and mycelial consciousness: the concept of the fungal mind. Fungal Biology125: 257-259.

Courses Taught

• BIO 710: Graduate Seminars on variety of themes including, Darwinian Evolution, Biodiversity, & Mycology
• WST 123: Biology and Society
• WST 301: Interdisciplinary seminars on Science and Religion, & The Science and Art of Time