Rolf Sattler is emeritus professor of biology at McGill University in Montrael, Canada. He is author of Organogenesis of Flowers, Biophilosophy: Analytic and Holistic Perspectives, and Science and Beyond: Toward Greater Sanity Through Science, Philosophy, Art, and Spirituality.

Here he describes Johann Wolfgang von Goethe as the equivalent to German literature as Shakespeare is to English literature or Dante is to Italian literature – a towering figure. However, Goethe considered his scientific writings to be as important as his literary contributions. Sattler sees Goethe as one of the founders of the discipline of plant morphology. His book, The Metamorphosis of Plants was published in 1790. Sattler points out that Goethe incorporated many different worldviews into his analysis – including perspectivism, animism, mechanism, essentialism, holism, and mysticism.

(Recorded on October 2, 2021)

Published on October 17, 2021