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Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, although best known for his literary
work, was also a keen and outspoken natural scientist. In the
second polemic part of Zur Farbenlehre (Theory of Colours), for
example, Goethe attacked Isaac Newton's ground-breaking revelation
that light is heterogeneous and not immutable, as was previously
thought.This polemic was unanimously rejected by the physicists of
the day, and has often been omitted from compendia of Goethe's
works. Indeed, although Goethe repeated all of Newton's key
experiments, he was never able to achieve the same results. Many
reasons have been proposed for this, ranging from the psychological
- such as a blind hatred of Newtonism, self-deceit and paranoid
psychosis - to accusations of incapability - Goethe simply did not
understand the experiments. Yet Goethe was never to be dissuaded
from this passionate conviction.This translation of Goethe's
polemic, published for the first time in English, makes it clear
that Goethe did understand the thrust of Newton's logic. It
demonstrates that Goethe's resistance to Newton's theory stemmed
from something quite different; his pantheism - the belief in the
spiritual nature of light. This prevented him from allowing himself
to think of light in physical terms and accepting that it is
anything other than simple, immutable, and unknowable.This
important new translation will be useful to natural scientists,
historians, philosophers and theologians alike and will delight
anyone hoping to add a further layer of nuance to Goethe's complex
portrait.
Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, although best known for his literary
work, was also a keen and outspoken natural scientist. In the
second polemic part of Zur Farbenlehre (Theory of Colours), for
example, Goethe attacked Isaac Newton's ground-breaking revelation
that light is heterogeneous and not immutable, as was previously
thought.This polemic was unanimously rejected by the physicists of
the day, and has often been omitted from compendia of Goethe's
works. Indeed, although Goethe repeated all of Newton's key
experiments, he was never able to achieve the same results. Many
reasons have been proposed for this, ranging from the psychological
- such as a blind hatred of Newtonism, self-deceit and paranoid
psychosis - to accusations of incapability - Goethe simply did not
understand the experiments. Yet Goethe was never to be dissuaded
from this passionate conviction.This translation of Goethe's
polemic, published for the first time in English, makes it clear
that Goethe did understand the thrust of Newton's logic. It
demonstrates that Goethe's resistance to Newton's theory stemmed
from something quite different; his pantheism - the belief in the
spiritual nature of light. This prevented him from allowing himself
to think of light in physical terms and accepting that it is
anything other than simple, immutable, and unknowable.This
important new translation will be useful to natural scientists,
historians, philosophers and theologians alike and will delight
anyone hoping to add a further layer of nuance to Goethe's complex
portrait.
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