ABSTRACT
The autobiographical sections and references serve a function beyond that of depicting Johann Wolfgang von Goethe’s struggle to achieve scientific insight into the natural world. This chapter presents various works, including The Metamorphosis of Plants and the Theory of Colors that constitute a small portion of Goethe’s total scientific production. When considering Goethe’s science it is instructive to keep in mind the swiftly changing scientific landscape that forms the intellectual backdrop of his long life. In 1749, the year of Goethe’s birth, George-Louis Buffon had just published the first three volumes of his 36-volume best-seller, Histoire naturelle. The laws governing the derivations from the ideal are valid, he argues further, not only within a specific sphere or portion of nature but throughout all of creation. The phenomena of polarity can be witnessed everywhere in nature, from the regular contraction and expansion of leaf forms along a plant stem to the beating of a heart.
