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===Goethe's Contributions===

===Goethe's Contributions===

Goethe authored several works on science, most notably "The Metamorphosis of Plants" and his "Theory of Color". In these it was implicit that the observer had to simultaneously pay close attention to the actual observed [[Wikipedia:phenomenon|phenomenon]] while also emphasizing the importance of what happened in the active observer during this process. Artistic activity and reverence is coupled into this way of science. One tenant of Goethean Science is that it is impossible to completely divorce oneself from the phenomenon being studied. In this sense Goethe is the founder of a truly holistic science<ref>http://www.solidmentalgrace.com/jcms/anthroposophy-and-goethean/35-general-anthroposophic-and-goethean/45-goethean-science.html</ref>. <blockquote>"To grasp the phenomena, to fix them to experiments, to arrange the experiences and know the possible modes of representation of them—the first as attentively, the second as accurately the third as exhaustively as possible and the last with sufficient many-sidedness—demands a moulding of a man’s poor ego, a transformation so great that I never should have believed it possible.” Goethe, Letter to Jacobi.</blockquote><blockquote>“In so far as we make use of our healthy senses, the human being is the most powerful and exact scientific instrument possible.” Goethe</blockquote>Unlike conventional science which considers to be real only that which is measurable (so color in its reality is seen as only a wavelength of light. This is called [[Wikipedia:reductionism|reductionism]].), Goethean science places emphasis on the reality of the phenomenon. <blockquote>These [<nowiki/>[[Wikipedia:secondary qualities|secondary qualities]]] were held to exist only in the conscious experience of the subject and not to be present as such a part of the object. Thus nature was drastically impoverished. But so too was humanity, for these secondary qualities were thought to be of no significance compared with the [[Wikipedia:Primary qualities|primary ones]] which alone were part of nature—a nature which was now [[Wikipedia:Reductionism|reduced]] to matter<ref>[[Bortoft H. The Wholeness of Nature—Goethe’s Way of Science. Edinburgh: Floris Books, 1996.]]</ref>.</blockquote>Goethe is most well known for his [[Wikipedia:Morphology|morphologic]] work showing that the [[Wikipedia:Intermaxillary bone|intermaxillary bone]] was present in the human [[Wikipedia:Skull|skull]]. Goethe's contemporaries thought that this bone was a notable difference between animals and humans.  

Goethe authored several works on science, most notably "The Metamorphosis of Plants" and his "Theory of Color". In these it was implicit that the observer had to simultaneously pay close attention to the actual observed [[Wikipedia:phenomenon|phenomenon]] while also emphasizing the importance of what happened in the active observer during this process. Artistic activity and reverence is coupled into this way of science. One tenant of Goethean Science is that it is impossible to completely divorce oneself from the phenomenon being studied. In this sense Goethe is the founder of a truly holistic science<ref>http://www.solidmentalgrace.com/jcms/anthroposophy-and-goethean/35-general-anthroposophic-and-goethean/45-goethean-science.html</ref>. <blockquote>"To grasp the phenomena, to fix them to experiments, to arrange the experiences and know the possible modes of representation of them—the first as attentively, the second as accurately the third as exhaustively as possible and the last with sufficient many-sidedness—demands a moulding of a man’s poor ego, a transformation so great that I never should have believed it possible.” Goethe, Letter to Jacobi.</blockquote><blockquote>“In so far as we make use of our healthy senses, the human being is the most powerful and exact scientific instrument possible.” Goethe</blockquote>Unlike conventional science which considers to be real only that which is measurable (so color in its reality is seen as only a wavelength of light. This is called [[reductionism]].), Goethean science places emphasis on the reality of the phenomenon. <blockquote>These [<nowiki/>[[Wikipedia:secondary qualities|secondary qualities]]] were held to exist only in the conscious experience of the subject and not to be present as such a part of the object. Thus nature was drastically impoverished. But so too was humanity, for these secondary qualities were thought to be of no significance compared with the [[Wikipedia:Primary qualities|primary ones]] which alone were part of nature—a nature which was now [[Wikipedia:Reductionism|reduced]] to matter<ref>[[Bortoft H. The Wholeness of Nature—Goethe’s Way of Science. Edinburgh: Floris Books, 1996.]]</ref>.</blockquote>Goethe is most well known for his [[Wikipedia:Morphology|morphologic]] work showing that the [[Wikipedia:Intermaxillary bone|intermaxillary bone]] was present in the human [[Wikipedia:Skull|skull]]. Goethe's contemporaries thought that this bone was a notable difference between animals and humans.  

Goethe also developed the idea of the "Urpflanze"- the key essence of the plant that is essential to all plants. Plant forms were all a transformation of leaf.  

Goethe also developed the idea of the "Urpflanze"- the key essence of the plant that is essential to all plants. Plant forms were all a transformation of leaf.