In fresh and spirited prose, John Barnes offers
 a captivating introduction to the life of Goethe
 as an inspiration for our times. He traces a 
powerful 18.6 year rhythm in Goethe’s biography,
 showing how his creative genius unfolded through
 repeated periods of crises and renewal. The fact
 that this rhythm corresponds exactly with 
cyclical movements of the earth and moon suggests
 a strong connection between the life of Goethe
 and the pulsing life of nature. 

Goethe considered his participatory approach to
 nature to be his finest achievement in life, 
a contribution only now beginning to be appreciated
 as scientifically significant. Barnes focuses on
 Goethe’s development as a scientist, in the end 
applying Goethe’s own scientific method to his 
unfolding biography. In doing so, a remarkable
 archetypal lawfulness is revealed. 


Goethe’s life and work inspire us to deepen our
 own connection to nature and to the pulsing rhythms
 of our lives. In light of the crises we face today, 
Goethe appears more than ever as a forerunner of a 
possible healing culture of the 21st century. 

I also know that I appear to the world as one who 
has built a ship atop a high mountain, thousands 
of miles distant from the ocean; but the waters will 
rise, and my ship will float and sail. ~ Goethe