Influence of Ocular Light Perception on Metabolism in Man and in Animal (eBook)

This book was written to show that light is a primal element of life. All life originates and develops under the influence of the light of the sun, that "e;super- terrestrial natural force"e; (Goethe). Sunlight influences the vital processes not onlyofthe plant (e. g. , heliotropism, photosynthesis) and the animal (e. g. , color change, maturation of the gonads) but of man as well. The human organism too reacts "e;heliotropically,"e; as the 24- hour rhythm of the sleep-waking cycle demonstrates. of Artists have always perceived clearly the intensive stimulatory effect sunlight on their activity. One is reminded here ofCesare Lombroso, who wrote to his daughter "e;that thoughts come in the greatest profusion when (my) room is flooded with the sun's rays. "e; Richard Wagner exclaimed: "e;Ifonly the sun would come out, I would have the score finished in no time. "e; Bernard Shaw had a little cottage where he worked that could be turned according to the position of the sun. The composer Humperdinck wrote: "e;The sun is indispensable for my work; that is why it is important for me to have my study face east or south. "e; As these few examples indicate, it is above all those active in the arts who intuitively grasp the positive influence of sunlight on the psycho-physical effi- ciency of their organism. In an age, however, when fluorescent lighting turns night into day, we are in danger of forgetting that man is a creature of nature as well as of culture.