Johann Wolfgang von Goethe

Considered a brilliant writer, Goethe was one of the paramount figures of German literature and European Neo-classicism and Romanticism in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The author of Faust and Theory of Colours, he inspired Darwin with his independent discovery of the human premaxilla jaw bones and focus on evolution. Goethe's influence spread across Europe, and for the next century his works were a primary source of inspiration in music, drama, and poetry.

Works

The most important of Goethe's works produced before he went to Weimar were his tragedy Götz von Berlichingen (1773), which was the first work to bring him fame, and the novel The Sorrows of Young Werther, influenced by James Macpherson's Ossian, which gained enormous popularity as a writer in the Sturm und Drang movement. During the years at Weimar before he met Schiller he began Wilhelm Meister, wrote the dramas Iphigenie, Egmont, and Torquato Tasso, and his Reineke Fuchs.

Related Topics:
1773 - The Sorrows of Young Werther - James Macpherson - Ossian - Sturm und Drang - Wilhelm Meister - Iphigenie - Egmont - Torquato Tasso - Reineke Fuchs

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To the period of his friendship with Schiller belong the continuation of Wilhelm Meister, the beautiful idyl of Hermann and Dorothea, and the Roman Elegies. In the last period, between Schiller's death, in 1805, and his own, appeared Faust, Elective Affinities, his pseudo-autobiographical ' (Out of my Life: Poetry and Truth), his Italian Journey, much scientific work, and a series of treatises on German art. His writing was immediately influential in literary and artistic circles.

Related Topics:
Wilhelm Meister - Hermann and Dorothea - Roman Elegies - Faust - Elective Affinities

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In addition to his literary work, Goethe also contributed significant work to the sciences. In biology, his theory of plant metamorphosis stipulated that all plant formation stems from a modification of the leaf. He is also known for his discovery of the intermaxillary bone in humans.

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Goethe considered his Theory of Colours to be his most important contribution to science and indeed prized it above all of his literary work. Goethe thought that colour is not only a phenomenon on the physical level, but it also has to do with how light and colour are affected by the object, lighting, and the individual's perception. He was very proud of his research, and is at one point quoted as saying: "That I am the only person in this century who has the right insight into the difficult science of colours, that is what I am rather proud of, and that is what gives me the feeling that I have outstripped many." In the 20th century, Goethe's Theory of Colours would influence the philosopher Ludwig Wittgenstein when he wrote Remarks on Colour. Psychologist Catharine M. Cox, in her 1926 Early Mental Traits of Three Hundred Geniuses, speculatively estimated Goethe's IQ at 210, the highest score that she assigned.

Related Topics:
Theory of Colours - Ludwig Wittgenstein - Remarks on Colour - Catharine M. Cox - 1926 - IQ

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