Johann Wolfgang von Goethe: Art and nature, poetry and science

Abstract

The scientific work of German poet Johann Wolfgang von Goethe (1749-1832) encompassed the fields of human and animal anatomy, optics, geology, mineralogy, chemistry, botany, morphology, and meteorology. Goethe believed that nature and art were governed by the same laws, concepts he designated as the laws of "polarity" and "intensification." His poetic works can only be evaluated and interpreted if approached from his understanding of harmony between man and nature, and his view of the complementary relations between spirit and matter.