Craig Holdrege: Publications
The following is a list of Craig’s written works. You can find his work on other media too: videos and podcast episodes.
Books and Monographs
Living Perenniality: Plants, Agriculture, and the Transformation of Consciousness
Middlebury, Vermont: New Perennials Publishing, 2021
Seeing the Animal Whole: And Why It Matters
Great Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne Books, 2021
Do Frogs Come from Tadpoles? Rethinking Origins in Development and Evolution
Ghent, NY: The Nature Institute, 2017
Thinking Like a Plant: A Living Science for Life
Great Barrington, MA: Lindisfarne Books, 2013
This book was published in a Swedish translation in 2014 and a Mandarin translation in 2020.
Beyond Biotechnology: The Barren Promise of Genetic Engineering
Co-authored with Steve Talbott
Lexington, KY: The University Press of Kentucky, 2008
The Giraffe's Long Neck: From Evolutionary Fable to Whole Organism
Ghent, NY: The Nature Institute, 2005
The Flexible Giant: Seeing the Elephant Whole
Ghent, NY: The Nature Institute, 2003
The Dynamic Heart and Circulation
Edited by Craig Holdrege
Fair Oaks, CA: AWSNA Publications, 2002
Genetics and the Manipulation of Life: The Forgotten Factor of Context
Hudson, NY: Lindisfarne Press, 1996.
This book has been translated into German, French, and Norwegian.
Book Chapters
“The Seasons Embodied: The Story of a Plant.” In The Seasons: Philosophical, Literary, and Environmental Perspectives, edited by Luke Fischer. New York: SUNY Press, July 2021.
“Annuality and Perenniality in Wild Plants: Developing Malleable Concepts.” In The Perennial Turn: Contemporary Essays from the Field, edited by Bill Vitek. Vermont: New Perennials Publishing, 2020.
“Why Context Matters.” In The GMO Deception, edited by Sheldon Krimsky and Jeremy Gruber. New York: Skyhorse Publishing, 2014.
“Exploration and Theory in Science.” In Grow Small, Think Beautiful, edited by Stephan Harding. Edinburgh: Floris Books, 2011.
“Can We See with Fresh Eyes? Beyond a Culture of Abstraction.” In The Virtues of Ignorance: Complexity, Sustainability, and the Limits of Knowledge, edited by Bill Vitek and Wes Jackson. Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2008.
“Genetically Engineered Crops Will Not End World Hunger.” In Current Controversies: Genetic Engineering. Farmington Hills, MI: Thomson Gale, 2006.
“Gentechnik: Keine Lösung des Hungerproblems.” In Gefahr Gentechnik, edited by M. Grössler. Mariahof, Austria: Concord Verlag, 2005.
“Science Evolving: The Case of the Peppered Moth.” In Writing the Future: Progress and Evolution, edited by David Rothenberg and Wandee Pryor. Cambridge MA: MIT Press, 2004.
“The Art of Thinking: Helping Students to Develop Their Faculties of Thinking and Observation.” In Educating as an Art, edited by Carol Ann Bärtges and Nick Lyons. New York: The Rudolf Steiner School, Inc. 2003. Also published in the journal Renewal (in two parts, Fall/Winter 2001 and Spring/Summer 2002).
“The Heart: A Pulsing and Perceptive Center.” In The Dynamic Heart and Circulation, edited by Craig Holdrege. Fair Oaks CA: AWSNA Publications, 2002.
Forward to Thinking Beyond Darwin: The Idea of the Type as a Key to Vertebrate Evolution, by E.M. Kranich. Hudson NY: Lindisfarne Press, 1999, pp. vii-xxviii.
“Seeing the Animal Whole: The Example of the Horse and Lion.” In Goethe's Way of Science, edited by D. Seamon and A. Zajonc. Albany NY: SUNY Press, 1998, pp. 213-32.
“Plasticity in Human Heredity.” In The Future of DNA, edited by Johannes Wirz and Edith Lammerts van Beuren. Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers, 1997, pp. 150-54.
Articles listed by topic
On Seeing Nature Whole: A Goethean Approach
“Are Plants Intelligent? An Initial Exploration,” written with Jon McAlice, In Context #51, Spring 2024
“Plant Observation — Enhancing Our Capacities to Perceive and Understand,” In Context #50, Fall 2023
“Being With the World: A Path to Qualitative Insight,” In Context #47, Spring 2022
“The Dairy Cow and our Responsibility to Domesticated Animals,” excerpt from Seeing the Animal Whole, 2021
“Ways of Looking at a Virus,” with Jon McAlice, 2021
“Where Does an Animal End: The American Bison,” In Context #45, Spring 2021 Also available in three audio episodes at our Podcast page.
“Some Comments on The Contagion Myth,” with Jon McAlice, 2020
“To Rescue The Whole,” an interview with Craig in Acres magazine, October 2020
“Meeting Bloodroot (Sanguinaria canadensis),” In Context #44, Fall 2020
“Viruses in the Dynamics of Life,” 2020
“Why Does a Zebra Have Stripes? (Maybe This Is the Wrong Question),” In Context #37, Spring 2017.
“Meeting Nature as a Presence: Aldo Leopold and the Deeper Nature of Nature,” In Context #36, Fall 2016.
“Creativity, Origins, and Ancestors: What Frog Evolution Can Teach Us,” In Context #35, Spring 2016.
“Is a Science of Beings Possible?” In Context #34, Fall 2015.
“Do Frogs Come from Tadpoles?” In Context #33, Spring 2015.
“Goethe and the Evolution of Science,” In Context #31, Spring 2014.
If you are asking yourself, “What is Goethean science?” this is the article to read.
“Holding Gently: A Story of Social Practice,” In Context #27, Spring 2012.
The Goethean study of nature leads to a fruitful approach to social change.
“Phenomenon Illuminates Phenomenon,” In Context #26, Fall 2011.
“The Story of an Organism: Common Milkweed,” originally published in In Context #22-24, Fall 2009 - Fall 2010.
“Transformation in Adult Learning,” In Context #18, Fall 2007.
This article looks in detail at the kind of learning that deeply changes who we are.
“Can We See with Fresh Eyes: Beyond a Culture of Abstraction,” In Context #16, Fall 2006.
Can we gain our scientific concepts through openness to the world instead of imposing them on the world? It's the difference between a living thinking that respects the phenomena, on one hand, and a habitual thinking that cuts us off from the phenomena, on the other.
“Learning to See Life: Developing the Goethean Approach to Science,” Renewal, Fall 2005.
This article gives a brief introduction to the Goethean approach in relation to science education.
“Doing Goethean Science,” Janus Head vol. 8.1, 2005.
In this article Craig describes his own practice of the Goethean approach to science. Describing this work as a kind of conversation with nature, he illustrates his methodology using the example of his research on the skunk cabbage. We also have a Portuguese translation of the article.
“The Forming Tree,” In Context #14, Fall 2005.
This article is a lesson in context — how the form of a tree develops over time and in relation to its habitat.
“The Giraffe in its World,” In Context #12, Fall 2004.
Become acquainted with one of Africa's most remarkable creatures by reading this excerpt from a Nature Institute Perspective booklet.
“The Giraffe's Short Neck,” In Context #10, Fall 2003.
“How Does a Mole View the World?” In Context #9, Spring 2003.
“Portraying a Meadow,” In Context #8, Fall 2002.
“Elephantine Intelligence,” In Context #5, Spring 2001.
“What Forms an Animal?” In Context #6, Fall 2001.
“Skunk Cabbage,” In Context #4, Fall 2000.
“Where Do Organisms End?” In Context #2, Spring, 2000.
“Genes and Life: The Need for Qualitative Understanding,” In Context #1, Spring/Summer 1999.
“Science as Process or Dogma? The Case of the Peppered Moth,” Elemente der Naturwissenschaft vol. 70, 1999.
“What Does it Mean to be a Sloth?” revised from NetFuture #97, Nov. 3, 1999.
“Pharming the Cow,” NetFuture #43, March 20, 1997.
“Seeing Things Right-side Up: The Implications of Kurt Goldstein's Holism,” In Context #2, Fall 1999. Reprinted in German as “Konsequenter Holismus: Die Ganzheitliche Anschauungsweise Kurt Goldsteins,” Die Drei, April 2000.
Education: Science, Sustainability, Experience-Based Learning
“Are Plants Intelligent? An Initial Exploration,” written with Jon McAlice, In Context #51, Spring 2024
“Plant Observation — Enhancing Our Capacities to Perceive and Understand,” In Context #50, Fall 2023
“Generative Knowing in Education — An Example,” In Context #49, Spring 2023
“Being With the World: A Path to Qualitative Insight,” In Context #47, Spring 2022
“The Dairy Cow and our Responsibility to Domesticated Animals,” excerpt from Seeing the Animal Whole, 2021
“Nature Playful,” In Context #39, Spring 2018.
“A Day in the Life of a Chicory Flower,” In Context #35, Spring 2016.
“Reality-Based Education in a Hyperreal Culture,” 2015. Based on a talk given at the 2014 Techno-Utopia Teach-In in New York City. This article links to a video.
“Wie Erziehen wir für eine unbekannte Zukunft?” [“How Do We Educate for an Unknown Future?”] Lehrerrundbrief. August 2014. (German education journal).
“Education and the Presence of the Unknown,” In Context #28, Fall 2012. Reprinted in Research Bulletin for Waldorf Education, Spring 2014.
“Rooted in the World,” In Context #29, Spring 2013. Reprinted in Research Bulletin for Waldorf Education vol. 28, no. 2, pp. 50-57, 2013; and Resurgence/Ecologist no. 282, pp. 42-45, 2014.
“An Environmental Science Curriculum for Middle School,” 2011. Prepared for the Detroit Waldorf School.
“Transformation in Adult Learning,” In Context #18, Fall 2007.
This article looks in detail at the kind of learning that deeply changes who we are.
“Can We See with Fresh Eyes: Beyond a Culture of Abstraction,” In Context #16, Fall 2006.
Can we gain our scientific concepts through openness to the world instead of imposing them on the world? It's the difference between a living thinking that respects the phenomena, on one hand, and a habitual thinking that cuts us off from the phenomena, on the other.
“Learning to See Life: Developing the Goethean Approach to Science,” Renewal, Fall 2005.
“The Art of Thinking: Helping Students to Develop Their Faculties of Thinking and Observation,” Renewal, Fall 2001 (Part I) and Spring 2002 (Part II).
“Addressing Contemporary Issues in the High School: The Example of Human Cloning,” Renewal, Fall/Winter 2000.
“Science as Process or Dogma? The Case of the Peppered Moth,” Elemente der Naturwissenschaft, vol. 70, 1999. A shorter version of this article appeared in Whole Earth Magazine.
“The Farm in the Landscape: A Place-Based Ecology Course.” This essay was originally published in the 2000 Stella Natura calendar. (Kimberton Hills Biodynamic Agriculture Calendar, Kimberton PA: 2000.)
“Metamorphosis and Metamorphic Thinking.” In Colloquium on Life Science and Environmental Studies, AWSNA Research Projects #5, 2002.
Evolution, Development, and Ecology
“Creativity, Origins, and Ancestors: What Frog Evolution Can Teach Us,” In Context #35, Spring 2016.
“Is a Science of Beings Possible?” In Context #34, Fall 2015.
“Do Frogs Come from Tadpoles?” In Context #33, Spring 2015.
“Evolution as a Movement Toward Autonomy,” In Context #32, Fall 2014. A review of On the Origin of Autonomy: A New Look at the Major Transitions in Evolution, by Bernd Rosslenbroich. Craig also reviewed the book in the German journal, Die Drei, October 2014.
“Science as Process or Dogma? The Case of the Peppered Moth,” Elemente der Naturwissenschaft, vol. 70, 1999.
“The Giraffe's Short Neck,” In Context #10, Fall 2003.
“What Forms an Animal?” In Context #6, Fall 2001.
“Where Do Organisms End?” In Context #2, Spring 2000.
“African Impressions (Part 2),” In Context #9, Spring 2003 and In Context #8, Fall 2002.
“African Impressions (Part 1),” In Context #8, Fall 2002.
“The Farm in the Landscape: A Place-Based Ecology Course.” This essay was originally published in the 2000 Stella Natura calendar. (Kimberton Hills Biodynamic Agriculture Calendar, Kimberton PA: 2000.)
“A New Book on the Heart and Circulation,” In Context #31, Spring 2014.
Genes in a Larger Context
“Der technische Zugriff auf das Leben: Synthetische Biologie,” Die Drei #7/8, 2015.
“When Engineers Take Hold of Life: Synthetic Biology,” In Context #32, Fall 2014.
“Evolution as a Movement Toward Autonomy,” In Context #32, Fall 2014. A review of On the Origin of Autonomy: A New Look at the Major Transitions in Evolution, by Bernd Rosslenbroich. Craig also reviewed the book in the German journal, Die Drei, October 2014.
“Können Moleküle Entscheidungen Treffen: Was die Sprache der Biologen über das Leben aussagt,” Die Drei, February 2012. Co-authored with Stephen L. Talbott.
“The Question Science Won’t Ask.” Orion Magazine, July/August 2006. Co-authored with Steve Talbott.
A somewhat different version of this essay was published under the title “Science’s Forbidden Question” in NetFuture #166, January 16, 2007.
“The Gene: A Needed Revolution,” In Context #14, Fall 2005.
The history of the concept of the gene dramatically belies the contemporary rhetoric that treats the gene as a fixed, well-defined thing that controls the organism and makes it what it is. Here the evolving concept of the gene is traced through the words of many of those who played a central role in elucidating the concept.
“More Taxonomy, Not DNA Barcoding,” BioScience vol. 55, October 2005, pp. 822-3. Co-authored with Malte Ebach.
“DNA Barcoding is No Substitute For Taxonomy,” Nature vol. 434, April 7, 2005, p. 697. Co-authored with Malte Ebach.
“Genes Are Not Immune to Context,” In Context #12, Fall 2004.
The “lowly” bacteria are among our best instructors in the high art of genetic flexibility and adaptation. What we've been learning about bacteria illustrates the fact that the organism, along with its environment, provides the context that gives genes their meaning.
“Genes and Life: The Need for Qualitative Understanding,” In Context # 1, Spring 1999.
Reflections on the question, “Which of our genes make us human?” None of them and all of them. The question, it turns out, betrays a grave misunderstanding of genes and people.
“Life Beyond Genes: Reflections on the Human Genome Project,” In Context #5, Spring 2001. Co-authored with Johannes Wirz.
More than showing that genes determine life, the human genome project and other advances in genetics show that the organism itself determines what genes are and do.
“What Forms an Animal?,” In Context #6, Fall 2001.
An animal is formed by more than the interaction of genes and environment as this article about lions and their skulls shows.
“Cloning: A Symptom of Our Times,” Anthroposophical Journal of Medicine, Fall 1997.
Food and Agriculture
Read reports about the unintended effects of genetic manipulation on organisms
“The Dairy Cow and our Responsibility to Domesticated Animals,” excerpt from Seeing the Animal Whole, 2021
“To Rescue The Whole,” an interview with Craig in Acres magazine, October 2020
“Context-Sensitive Action: The Development of Push-Pull Farming in Africa,” In Context #27, Spring 2012.
How do you control insects by attracting and repelling them at the same time? Hundreds of African farmers, particularly in Kenya, have been delighted to learn that a “push-pull” method really does the trick. The ambitious and economically important research program behind this development tells us a lot about how science can be productive in its own terms while also playing a socially transformative role.
“Contamination of Honey with GM Pollen,” In Context #26, Fall 2011.
A short piece on the recent ruling and implications of the Court of Justice of the European Union case involving contaminated honey with genetically modified pollen.
“Genetically Modified Corn Is Leading to Insect Resistance,” by Craig Holdrege and Stephen L. Talbott, Fall 2011.
Genes to produce an insect-control agent have been altered and engineered directly into crops and approved for general use. But now the inevitable is happening: the destructive pests are becoming resistant.
“Will Biotech Feed the World? The Broader Context,” 2005.
In this article Craig Holdrege describes the broader ecological, agricultural, and social context of feeding the hungry. The often heard claim that biotechnology is needed to feed the world's growing population shows itself to be rooted more in hype than in reality.
“From Wonder Bread to GM Lettuce,” In Context #11, Spring 2004.
No food is a mere aggregation of individual, isolated elements. The living organism has a unity of its own reflected in how all its parts relate to each other. These relationships not only make the organism what it is, but they also make the organism into the food it is. So, too, in the human and social realm: it makes no sense to treat our food as a collection of isolated ingredients, ignoring the integrity of the processes by which the food is grown, transported, processed, and sold.
“The Trouble With Genetically Modified Crops,” In Context #11, Spring 2004.
The plight of Percy Schmeiser, a Canadian organic farmer sued by Monsanto after genetically modified Canola plants appeared on his farm, poses many issues for farmers and for the integrity of our food supply. But one county (in California) has now chosen to ban genetically modified crops.
“Sowing Technology.” Co-authored with Steve Talbott. NetFuture #123, Oct. 9, 2001. A version of this article appeared in Sierra, July/August 2001.
This article discusses current developments in agricultural biotechnology within an ecological context and shows the pitfalls of this approach to revolutionizing agriculture.
“Golden Genes and World Hunger: Let Them Eat Transgenic Rice?” Co-authored with Steve Talbott. NetFuture #108, July 6, 2000.
You may have heard that genetically engineered crops will enable us to feed the millions of hungry people on the planet. This article, which focuses on carotene-enriched rice, shows the shortsightedness of seeking purely technological fixes to complex issues.
“Should Genetically Modified Foods Be Labeled?” NetFuture #135, Aug. 29, 2002.
An in-depth article covering FDA food-labeling policies and presenting a cogent argument for the mandatory labeling of GM food.
“We Label Orange Juice, Why Not Genetically Modified Food?” An Op-ed published in the Progressive Populist (Nov. 15, 2002), The Land Report (Fall 2002), and other publications.
“The Tyranny of the Gene,” NetFuture #80, Nov. 24, 1998.
This article highlights some illusions associated with the belief that genetic engineering can definitively control processes in organisms.
“Pharming the Cow,” NetFuture #43, March 20, 1997.
Is the cow a complex genetic mechanism that we can manipulate at will for human ends, or is it an organism with its own integrity that warrants our respect? This article exemplifies the power of a holistic, contextual approach to tackle complex issues of technology and animal welfare.
Technology
“Der technische Zugriff auf das Leben: Synthetische Biologie,” Die Drei #7/8, 2015.
“When Engineers Take Hold of Life: Synthetic Biology,” In Context #32, Fall 2014.
“Reality-Based Education in a Hyperreal Culture,” 2014. Based on Craig’s presentation at the Techno-Utopia Teach-In in New York City.