Schedule for Goethean Science 2009–2010 at Anthroposophy NYC – updated!
LectureTopicClay workshop
1. Wed. Oct. 7 Human Anatomy and PhysiologyThu. Oct. 8
2. Wed. Nov. 11 Chemistry and NutritionThu. Nov. 12
3. Wed. Dec. 9 BotanyThu. Dec. 10
4. Wed. Jan. 13 ZoologyThu. Jan. 14
5. Wed. Feb. 10 EmbryologyThu. Feb. 11
6. Wed. Feb 24GeologyThu. Feb. 25
7. Wed. March 17 PhysicsThu. March 18
8. Wed. April 14 AstronomyThu. April 15
9. Wed. May 12 MeteorologyThu. May 13
10. Wed. June 9 AnthropologyThu. June 10
When Rudolf Steiner spoke to an audience, he assumed a basic scientific knowledge in many fields in his listeners. It is often difficult to come to a satisfying understanding of his books and lectures without this knowledge. When one has acquired such knowledge, his lectures take on new dimensions.
What could be considered a basic grounding in the sciences can work like a seedbed to which the light of Anthroposophy can cause the blossoming of the highest spiritualknowledge. Rudolf Steiner draws these seeds into the light of spirit through his further development of Goethean Science.
An approach will be made each month to lay the ground seeds for one of the sciences and a beginning toward the sprouting of the seed and its blossoming and fulfillment.
We will divide our journey into ten parts.
Month 1.Human Anatomy and physiology. We will examine the human being as microcosmic revelation of worlds. The human physical form and its activity will be studied.
Month 2. Chemistry and Nutrition. The knowledge of the substances of the physical world and their interactions among themselves is essential for an understanding of the activities and manifestations of the beings of nature. How these substances work in the microcosm will, as nutrition will, contribute to an understanding of their activities in the greater world.
Month 3.Botany. The plant world is the first realm of organic chemistry.Its forms and organization of life display themselves in a world of beauty and order.
Month 4.Zoology. The life-world is ensouled in the realm of animals. The animals approach the human form in likeness but each reveals only a specialized part of what appears in the human being as a harmonious whole. We will look at the idea of evolution and how the animals relate to the human being.
Month 5.Embryology. The deepest secrets of evolution can be seen by peering into prenatal life. This is a world of dynamic form metamorphosis in fluid manifestations.
Month 6.Geology. The earth was not always in the dead hardened state that we observe today. It was formerly in a more expanded embryonic fluid condition before individual beings were separated out onto the hardened surface of the globe. We will trace the history of the earth back to its living state.
Month 7. Physics. The forces of inorganic nature are studied through physics. We will look at mechanics, elastic-wave vibrations,acoustics, states of matter, heat, electricity, magnetism, atomic physics (the new physics), light, and optics (Goethe’s color theory). Manifestations of nature here are completely subject to outside forces.
Month 8.Astronomy. We will study the fixed stars and the wandering planets with their beautiful world of orderly motion and their outlaying of space. We will see how these work their way into the beings of nature and their rhythms.
Month 9.Meteorology. We will explore the manifestation of water vapor, air, light in the atmosphere, and their activity as weather. We will also study the layers surrounding the earth that gradually dissolve into outer space.
Month 10.Anthropology. This is a multi-faceted subject and one which is appropriate for a final study in that it rounds its way back to the human being, our starting point. We will look at ethnology, history, and evolution. Anthroposophy is the balance between Anthropology and Theosophy.
Each Wednesday’s study will be complimented and supported by an evening of clay modeling on the following Thursday. We will take up a theme from the subject of the previous evening. By doing so, we exercise the sculptural imagination, the fundamental tool of Goethean Science, which is necessary for the practice of the imaginative perception of form and its metamorphoses..
This year the Vorstand of the Goetheanum has chosen evolution as the unifying theme of the year for the Anthroposophical Society. Our journey through Goethean Science will highlight the thread of evolution through the realms of nature.
Reading list
General Theory
Steiner Theory of Knowledge Implicit in Goethe’s World Conception
Steiner Goethean Science
The Boundaries of Natural Science
Bortoft, Henry The Wholeness of Nature
HumanAnatomy & Physiology
Koenig, Karl A Living Physiology
Koenig, Karl Earth and Man
Rohen, Johannes W. Functional Morphology
Steiner Occult Physiology (all of his medical lectures)
Holdridge, Craig The Dynamics Heart & Circulation
Mees, L. F.C. Secrets of the Skeleton
Kovacs, Charles Muscles & Bones
Chemistry & Nutrition
Steiner Agriculture Course
Hauschka The Nature of Substance
Hauschka Nutrition
Schmidt The Dynamics of Nutrition
Schmidt The Essentials of Nutrition
Julius, Frits H. Fundamentals for Phenomenologial Study of Chemistry
Botany
Goethe Metamorphosis of Plants
van Romunde, Dick About Formative Forces in the Plant World
van Romunde, Dick Perceiving Plants: Experiencing Elemental Beings
Rohmann, G.G. The Plant (2 volumes)
Rohmann, G.G. The Living World of the Plant
Cranich, Ernst Planetary influences on Plants
Pelikan, W. Healing Plants
Kovacs, Charles Botany
Zoology
Poppelbaum, Man & Animal
Poppelbaum A New Zoology
Schad, W. Man & Mammal
Kipp Childhood and Human Evolution
Kolisko, E, Zoology for Everybody (8 small volumes)
Kolisko, E, The Twelve Groups of Animals
Koenig, K. The Animals and Their Destiny
Embryology
Weihs, Thomas Embryogenesis
Blechschmidt, Eric The Beginnings of Human Life
Koenig Embryology and World Evolution
Van der Bie, Guus Embryology (a Bolk Companion)
Geology
Kloos, Walter The Living Earth
Pelikan, Wilhem The Secrets of Metals
Kolisko, Eugen Geology (2 small volumes)
Physics
Lehars, Ernst Man or Matter
Goethe Theory of Color
Zajonc, Arthur Catching the Light
Schwenk, Theodore Sensitive Chaos
Von Zabern, B. Organic Physics
Steiner The Light Course
Steiner The Warmth Course
Astronomy
Schultz, J. The Rhythms of the Stars
Davidson, Norman Astronomy and the Imagination
Von Baravalle, Hermann Astronomy
Meteorology
Howard, Luke Essay on the Modifications of the Clouds
Benesch, Friedrich Ascension
Klocec, Dennis Weather and Cosmos
Bunyard, Peter Extreme Weather
Anthropology
Wadler, One Language
Lievegoed, Mystery Streams in Europe and the New Mysteries
Steiner Occult Science
Steiner Mission of Folk Souls