The first volume of this critical edition of writings by Rudolf Steiner features some of the earliest publications of the founder of anthroposophy. These texts document Steiners attempt to reconstruct the epistemological and scientific principles, which in Steiners view guided Johann Wolfgang von Goethes efforts in the field of natural science. In light of Steiners interpretation, Goethes efforts in this area appear as a progressive and forward-looking approach to the understanding of life, grounded in sound scientific methodology and philosophy, and at the same time deeply spiritual in nature.