While a student in Leipzig Goethe became seriously ill, and was forced to return home to Frankfurt on his nineteenth birthday. He was taken into the care of Dr Metz who gave him a mysterious remedy, and advised him to […]
After two years in the oppressive atmosphere of the Weimar court Goethe is in need of a break, and heads for the Harz Mountains. He soothes his conscience by visiting a depressed young man, and visits several ore mines and […]
Goethe’s search for the primeval plant began in the garden behind his cottage in Weimar, and ended in the Botanical Gardens of Palermo in Sicily. But the end of his search was only the beginning of his growing botanical insight […]
Soon after his arrival in Weimar Goethe was given the responsibility of reopening a derelict copper and silver mine near the impoverished village of Ilmenau. Seven years later he officially opened the mine with a rousing speech to the miners, […]
Goethe’s lifelong interest in the origins of basalt motivated him to attempt a resolution of the Neptunist dispute, climb Vesuvius, and explore the Bohemian volcanics. He met Beethoven, faced down the formidable geologist Leopold von Buch, and fell in live […]
In the autumn of 1779 Goethe accompanied Duke Carl August on a three-month Grand Tour of Switzerland. He made his first geognostic observations in the Birs Gorge, wrote poetry, met the well known Genevan geologist de Saussure, and risked life […]
Rainbows, Halos, Dawn and Dusk The appearance of colour in the atmosphere and Goethe’s Theory of Colours. By Johannes Kühl Adonis Science Books ISBN 978 – 0932776 – 48 – 8 www.adonispress.org This book explores the captivating colours that […]
What is Goethean Science? Although this question has received diverse answers from practitioners of Goethean science, they often share a common form – the form of classification. Two species of the genera science are imagined, Goethean science and normal science (or […]
Sol gold is, and Luna silver we declare; Mars yron, Mercurie is Quyksilver; Saturnus leed, and Jubiter is tyn, And Venus coper, by my fathers kyn. Chaucer, Canterbury Tales Once a month, the Moon meets each of the planets. When […]
The Sun produces gold; the Moon silver; Saturn lead; and Mars iron. Proklos of Byzantium, 5th century A.D. Some more practical details may not come amiss, for readers who wish to get their hands on some equipment. The paper: cut out […]