physics

Henri Bortoft

Henri Bortoft is a physics topic covered in the lgStudy science library. This page brings together a partial reference excerpt, illustrations, worked examples, real-world applications and a short study plan, so you can understand Henri Bortoft rather than just read about it. In short: Peter Henri Bortoft (1938 – 29 December 2012) was a British independent researcher and teacher, lecturer and writer on physics and the philosophy of science. He is best known for his work The Wholeness of Nature, considered a relevant and original recent interpretation of Goethean science.

Key takeaways

Henri Bortoft belongs to physics; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Henri Bortoft to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Henri Bortoft from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Peter Henri Bortoft (1938 – 29 December 2012) was a British independent researcher and teacher, lecturer and writer on physics and the philosophy of science. He is best known for his work The Wholeness of Nature, considered a relevant and original recent interpretation of Goethean science. His book Taking Appearance Seriously: The Dynamic Way of Seeing in Goethe and European Thought was published in 2012.

Education Bortoft completed his studies at the University of Hull, and then performed postgraduate research on the foundations of quantum physics at Birkbeck College, where theoretical physicist David Bohm introduced him to the problem of wholeness in quantum theory. Subsequently, Bortoft worked with John G. Bennett on Bennett's Systematics (also known as Multi-Term Systems), which was Bennett's methodology for assisting the systematic and progressive understanding of systems, complexity, and wholeness, and on efforts with Bennett and with Kenneth W. Pledge to develop a formal language that was rigorously descriptive of scientific activity. Those efforts were published in Systematics: The Journal of the Institute for the Comparative Study of History, Philosophy and the Sciences, listed below.

Career Bortoft taught physics and philosophy of science at Schumacher College in the framework of the program in Holistic Science. He held numerous lectures and seminars in Great Britain and the United States on the scientific work of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and on the development of modern science. Bortoft died on 29 December 2012 at his home in Matlaske, Norfolk, aged 74.

Works Henri Bortoft Taking Appearance Seriously: The Dynamic Way of Seeing in Goethe and European Thought, Floris Books, 2012, ISBN 978-086315-927-5. The Wholeness of Nature: Goethe's way toward a science of conscious participation in nature, Lindisfarne Press, 1996, ISBN 978-0-940262-79-9. Henri Bortoft: Goethes naturwissenschaftliche Methode (Goethe's scientific method). Stuttgart 1995, ISBN 3-7725-1544-4. Goethe's Scientific Consciousness, Octagon press, 1986, ISBN 978-0-904674-10-1. Note that Goethe's Scientific Consciousness is reused as part II of the book The Wholeness of Nature "Counterfeit and Authentic Wholes", In D. Seamon and R. Mugerauer, eds.: Dwelling, Place and Environment: Toward a Phenomenology of Person and World, pp. 281–302, Columbia University Press, 1985. The Whole: Counterfeit and Authentic, Systematics, 9 (2) (September, 1971), pp. 43–73. Review Discussion: A Systematic Critique of the Management of Science, Systematics, 7 (4) (March, 1971), pp. 347–351. The Ambiguity of ‘One’ and ‘Two’ in Young’s Experiment, Systematics, 8 (3) (December, 1970), available online at http://www.toutley.demon.co.uk/HB.htm Archived 11 June 2020 at the Wayback Machine. Language, Will, and the Fact, Systematics, 6 (3) (December, 1968). “The Resolution by a Rigorous Descriptive Method of Some Dilemmas in Physical Science – Part 1”, Systematics, 4 (2) (September, 1966). This article reflects Bortoft’s development of the idea of a rigorous descriptive method in the earlier article below and restates the Descriptive Model more concisely and elegantly, with an emphasis on the collective, sociological will of the scientific community. with J. G. Bennett and K. W. Pledge: Towards an Objectively Complete Language: An essay in objective description as applied to scientific procedure Archived 26 July 2011 at the Wayback Machine, Systematics, 3 (3) (December, 1965).

References

External links Henri Borthoft Archived 11 September 2011 at the Wayback Machine at Schumacher College Henri Bortoft: The transformation of consciousness Goethian science, by H. Bortoft Dialogue on leadership Archived 4 April 2012 at the Wayback Machine, interview with Henri Bortoft by Claus Otto Scharmer, 1999 Review of Henri Bortoft's Taking Appearance Seriously

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Henri Bortoft

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Henri Bortoft claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In physics, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Henri Bortoft before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Henri Bortoft ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Henri Bortoft

In research: Henri Bortoft appears in physics research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Henri Bortoft in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Henri Bortoft is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics 1938 births, 2012 deaths, 20th-century British physicists, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Henri Bortoft outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

Ask Teacher Smith questions about this articleOpens your AI tutor with a question about “Henri Bortoft” →

Affiliate

Preply — study more efficiently by working with a personal tutor. 50% off.

How to study Henri Bortoft in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Henri Bortoft means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Henri Bortoft out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Henri Bortoft in simple terms?

Why does Henri Bortoft matter?

Because it connects several physics ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Henri Bortoft?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Henri Bortoft.