Aspects of Human Evolution

Rudolf Steiner (1861-1925) was born in the small village of Kraljevec, Austro-Hungarian Empire (now in Croatia), where he grew up (see right). As a young man, he lived in Weimar and Berlin, where he became a well-published scientific, literary, and philosophical scholar, known especially for his work with Goethe's scientific writings. At the beginning of the twentieth century, he began to develop his early philosophical principles into an approach to systematic research into psychological and spiritual phenomena. Formally beginning his spiritual teaching career under the auspices of the Theosophical Society, Steiner came to use the term Anthroposophy (and spiritual science) for his philosophy, spiritual research, and findings. The influence of Steiner's multifaceted genius has led to innovative and holistic approaches in medicine, various therapies, philosophy, religious renewal, Waldorf education, education for special needs, threefold economics, biodynamic agriculture, Goethean science, architecture, and the arts of drama, speech, and eurythmy. In 1924, Rudolf Steiner founded the General Anthroposophical Society, which today has branches throughout the world. He died in Dornach, Switzerland. J. Leonard Benson (1920-2009) was Professor Emeritus of Ancient Art and Archaeology at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, and a distinguished scholar whose specialty is Greek vase painting. His interests included European decorative arts and nineteenth-century American painting. He published numerous articles in scholarly journals and more than a dozen books, including Horse, Bird and Man: The Origins of Greek Painting (1970); Bamboula at Kourion: The Bronze Age Settlement (1972); Earlier Corinthian Workshops (1989); and Greek Color Theory and the Four Elements (2000). He lived in Hillsdale, New York.