Johann Wolfgang von Goethe is most famous for his work on color theory, but he was also an accomplished all-round scientist, studying and writing on anatomy, geology, botany, zoology and meteorology. This book draws together, in Goethe's own words, his key ideas on nature, science and scientific method. Goethe believed that we should study our world and nature as people at home in it, rather than removedly, as if we were aliens from another planet. He (...) adopted a qualitative approach to science at odds with Newton's quantitative methods that were so popular in his day. His is a sensitive science which does not ignore our relationship to nature. The extracts in this book are fascinating and essential reading for anyone who feels that we've lost our spiritual connection to nature. (shrink)

"Nach Auschwitz Gedichte zu schreiben, ist barbarisch": Das Diktum Adornos gehort zu den bekanntesten Satzen Adornos und erfuhr eine intensive Beachtung im literarischen Feld, im Feuilleton und in der Forschung. ENtlang des Diktums wurde vor allem die Frage nach dem Versagen von Geist und Kultur angesichts von Auschwitz diskutiert: Wie war es moglich, dass ein Land wie Deutschland, das fur seine Kunst und Kultur geschatzt wurde, ganz Europa in ein Schlachthaus verwandelte? Und wie war es moglich, dass eben jene Kunst (...) und Kultur dies nicht verhindern konnte? Diese Frage, die konstitutiv fur das Selbstverstandnis der Gesellschaft der Bonner Republik gewesen ist, wurde vornehmlich entlang des Diktums Adornos verhandelt. UNd auch im 21. JAhrhundert scheint das Diktum Adornos noch in der Lage zu sein, diesbezugliche Fragen zu koordinieren. In der vorliegenden Studie geht es um die Rekonstruktion dieser Debatte, welche eine der wichtigsten Debatten der Vergangenheitsbewaltigung ist. DAbei werden nicht nur die unterschiedlichen Bezugnahmen im literarischen Feld herangezogen, sondern es wird gezeigt, dass die AuSSerungen Adornos als eine zeitdiagnostische Zustandsbeschreibung innerhalb des Barbarei-Diskurses der Moderne das Ende einer Debatte markierten, die mit Friedrich Schiller begann. (shrink)

Die aktuelle, durch den Menschen verursachte Biodiversitätskrise droht die wertvollsten erneuerbaren Ressourcen unseres Planeten zu vernichten. Der zerstörerische Effekt einer wachsenden Weltbevölkerung ist hinreichend nachgewiesen. In den kommenden Jahrzehnten werden wir Zeugen des Aussterbens einer großen Zahl von Tier- und Pflanzenarten sein. Legt man vergleichbare Phasen der Erdgeschichte zugrunde, in denen es zu Massenaussterben kam, so zeigt sich, dass die Dauer einer Regeneration von Biodiversität die für den Menschen vorstellbare Zeitspanne bei weitem überschreitet. Während die meisten Menschen gut über die (...) Klimaerwärmung informiert sind, sind vielen die Veränderungen in der Biosphäre nicht bewusst. Im Gegensatz zur Klimaforschung gibt es hier bislang keine groß angelegten Monitoringprogramme und es besteht noch Entwicklungsbedarf für Methoden zur schnellen Erfassung der Artenvielfalt. Die Taxonomen, d. h. die Wissenschaftler, die Arten kennen und klassifizieren, brauchen umfassendere Unterstützung. (shrink)

Goethe’s religiosity appears at the same time profoundly sincere yetescaping confessional labels. It has been claimed that Goethe was Christian,theist, mason, and even a pagan. Our work aims at studying Goethe’sreligiosity throughout his life, and in particular in his relationship with Islām.Of all religions Goethe studied and interacted with, Islām is remarkably absentfrom literary critic, yet he elaborated it throughout his life. We will proposea periodisation which divides his relationship with Islām into four stages, inwhich specific (...) religious themes echo in his letters and works, most of whichhave not been pointed out before, such as in the Faust. Finally, we will discussour findings in the context of religious studies scholarship, and approach theissue of what can Goethe suggest for the meaning of a European Islām today. (shrink)

The scientific and practical fields—especially high-performance sports—increasingly request a stronger focus be placed on individual athletes in human movement science research. Machine learning methods have shown efficacy in this context by identifying the unique movement patterns of individuals and distinguishing their intra-individual changes over time. The objective of this investigation is to analyze biomechanically described movement patterns during the fatigue-related accumulation process within a single training session of a high number of repeated executions of a ballistic sports movement—specifically, the frontal (...) foot kick (mae-geri) in karate—in expert athletes. The two leading research questions presented for consideration are (1) Can characteristics of individual movement patterns be observed throughout the entire training session despite continuous changes, i.e., even as fatigue-related processes increase? and (2) How do intra-individual movement patterns change as fatigue-related processes increase throughout a training session? Sixteen expert karatekas performed 606 frontal foot kicks directed toward an imaginary target. The kicks were performed in nine sets at 80% (K-80) of the self-experienced maximal intensity. In addition, six kicks at maximal intensity (K-100) were performed after each of the nine sets. Between the sets, the participants took a 90-s break. Three-dimensional full-body kinematic data of all kicks were recorded with 10 infrared cameras. The normalized waveforms of nine upper- and lower-body joint angles were classified using a supervised machine learning method (support vector machine). The results of the classification revealed a disjunct distinction between the kinematic movement patterns of individual athletes. The identification of unique movement patterns of individual athletes was independent of the intensity and the degree of fatigue-related processes. In other words, even with the accumulation of fatigue-related processes, the unique movement patterns of an individual athlete can be clearly identified. During the training session, changes in intra-individual movement patterns could also be detected, indicating the occurrence of adaptations in individual movement patterns throughout the fatigue-related accumulation process. The results suggest that these adaptations can be modeled in terms of changes in patterns rather than increasing variance. Practical consequences are critically discussed. (shrink)