Dissertation Grant: Finding Form: Goethe and Plant Morphology in Twentieth Century Anglophone Scholarship

Oregon State University, Corvallis OR

Investigators

Abstract

General Audience Summary This project examines the impact of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe on twentieth century Anglophone plant morphology and biology. The researcher proposes to visit four archives to complete archival and rare book research: the Hunt Institute for Botanical Documentation in Pittsburgh, the Newnham College Archives at the University of Cambridge in England, the University of St. Andrews Special Collections in Scotland, and the Rudolf Steiner House Library in London. In addition to enhancing our understanding of the history of biology, the results of this project will provide a context for and exposure to different aspects of morphology for those working with morphology in education and design settings. STEM educational institutions have used morphology to encourage environmental stewardship. Morphology also has significant implications in the design sciences, particularly for biomimicry. By reaching out to educators, designers, and the broader public through lectures, a blog, and conferences, the significance of the research proposed under this grant would have a broad impact. Technical Summary This project contributes to the historical literature on science in three ways. It examines the role of scientific alienation in our understanding of the Goethean tradition within plant morphology and beyond. This will add to discussions of scientific literacy and cultural engagement with science as the concept of scientific alienation engages with the experiences of those who make claims of being marginalized as they seek to engage with scientific knowledge and practices. In addition, it examines traditionally trained and amateur scientists who engaged with Goethe's science and used his concepts to critique scientific norms and explore the relation of science to other areas of society. Finally, it shows how scientists often engage audiences at the fringe of the scientific community and well beyond it. Specifically, Goethe's scientific and larger cultural heritage in the twentieth century Anglophone world engaged with the core literature of environmental movements. Together, these themes exhibit how Goethe's reception and twentieth century morphology may be fruitful for other areas of research being pursued by historians of science.