It’s quite lively here
The co-workers in the Natural Science Section are working in various fields, writing articles and books, editing a journal and giving courses both at the Goetheanum and around the world.
As in nature, it is also very diverse and lively here in the Natural Science Section at the Goetheanum. I, Matthias Rang, travel regularly between Dornach (CH) and Fulda (DE), where my team and I will soon conclude a very elaborate project of several years by finalizing an installation for fluorescence excitation spectroscopy. When I tidy up the workshop and the lab, I’m delighted about all the new measurements and options that will now be possible. For the first time we will be able to observe in what colour an apple emits its own light (biophotons).
My colleague Vesna travels regularly between Dornach and her Demeter farm and manufacturing company Sapientia in her homeland Slovenia. When we meet here, we work very intensively and productively on preparing the many activities that take place both in the Section and around the Goetheanum.
Research, publishing, travelling
I, Vesna Forštnerič Lesjak, am working on completing my soon-to-be published book on a new development in Anthroposophic Pharmacy. As a Goethean scientist I start with plant observation (in this case of Dipsacus, or teasels) and then build a bridge to Anthroposophic Medicine so that the chosen plant reflects the corresponding pharmaceutical processes that can address a particular illness (in this case Lyme disease or borreliosis). We use capillary dynamolysis to help us with this so that we can discover and explain as many qualities as possible in the plant and in the new medicine. At present I am planning a five-year research project on the use of capillary dynamolysis in pharmaceutical settings. Anthroposophic medicines have not yet been widely researched qualitatively in the wider scientific sense. At this moment (in November) I am packing for a trip to Great Britain to help organize a weekend event on the topic of ‘Interfluence: Cosmic-Global, Biological, Social’. A week after that I will travel to Romania to give a weekend workshop on Goethean plant knowledge. In Romania we are offering a two-year foundation course in Goetheanism that is attended by many colleagues from various disciplines.
The Glass House team
We have more colleagues in the Glass House who are working intensively on their own projects. Torsten Arncken, for instance, studies the smell and flavour of metal-fertilized plants or of plants that have grown under different-coloured light. We can hear Ruth Richter in the library up at the top of the building typing away on her keyboard, working on ‘Elements of Natural Science’ among other things. Johannes Wirz moves like the wind between his bees, his office and the courses he gives. He continues his regular work with Waldorf Schools and offers class lessons in far-flung countries such as South Korea, Egypt, Georgia and Russia.
We will soon gain a new co-worker, Robert Wroblewski, who studies and produces plant pigments.
So it is never quiet here in our Section. And our wonderful assistant Mara Born makes sure that we are not drowning in chaos as a result of all these activities.