“The question is not what you look at, but how you look and whether you see.”
— HENRY DAVID THOREAU
Witch Hazel (Hamamelis virginiana) flowering — as usual! — in October near The Nature Institute.
The spring 2024 issue (#51) of our biannual publication, In Context, has just been published in print and online. New writings by our staff include an exploration of our understanding of agency at the molecular level; a feature surveying current and possible views of plant intelligence; and a review of a new book, The Properties of Life. You’ll also find a special piece by one of our recent fellowship researchers on early spring coloring in oaks and maples.
Our Latest Podcast is a Double Episode!
First you can listen as Ryan Shea reads “Are Plants Intelligent?” an article from our Spring 2024 In Context issue #51 by Craig Holdrege and Jon McAlice, and then click to the companion episode featuring a conversation between Craig, Jon, and our podcast host John Gouldthorpe in which they discuss the central theme of the article: What are the ramifications of framing plant intelligence using the language of human-like intelligence?
In addition to publishing our staff’s work relating to Goethean Science and Phenomenology on this site, we also periodically showcase the work of others in the field. A new such addition to our Writings By Author section is the work of Mark Riegner PhD, who taught Ecology and Evolution for 35 years at Prescott College in Arizona, and has authored two insightful articles that you can link to from here.
About the work of The Nature Institute — In a rare interview, recorded in Brazil, Henrike and Craig Holdrege speak of their transformative work and the Goethean perspective that has long inspired it. This Q & A followed a two-week course, “Seeing Nature Whole,” that the Holdrege’s have frequently taught each December in Florianópolis.
Initially, we might view plants as we see many other things in the world: as objects — each complete unto itself and separate from the things around it. When, however, we attend more closely to plants, we find an intricate array of relations in which they play an active role. . . read more
News From The Institute
Read here about recent staff activities at the institute as well as abroad. Among other things, our work in the past months has explored leadership and curriculum development in schools; a Math Alive! workshop; and introducing Goethean Phenomenology to healthcare workers in Brazil.
We recently expanded and redesigned our online Bookstore to better serve you and to offer titles from other Goethean authors whose work we value. We encourage you to browse or contact us with any questions.
From a Reader…
Dear Craig,
Once again I’m introducing papers from The Nature Institute website, this time for a HS botany course, and I’m just so grateful for your work (and Steve’s) and that a resource like yours exists. …I appreciate so much those who approach science thoughtfully, with open minds and hearts. It has lit a fire in several students over the years, and helped to humanize even those who are not especially otherwise interested in science.
- Executive Director, Waldorf High School