Wonders of Development in Plants, People, and Projects (Hardcover)

The hectic pace of our lives is increasingly determined by the unconscious forces driving our thinking and by the relentless speed of the machines and automated intelligence that this thinking has produced. We are so caught up by the pressure this imposes upon us that we have largely lost any awareness of the regenerative, rhythmical activity that sustains us.

For the sake of our health, sanity, and ultimately of our own productivity, we can, as this deeply refreshing, delightful little book suggests, slow down and turn our full attention to the creative life of nature as it manifests in the growth and development of plants, in human development, and even in the unfolding of our human endeavors.

Drawing on his lifelong experience in regenerative agriculture, education, and planning, the author guides us in detailed observations that can awaken a deep sense of wonder at the creative lawfulness underlying all development. Van Mansvelt shows us how exact observation of plants can lead to a more inward contemplation of the formative gestures that manifest in their growth and metamorphosis―gestures that can also be discerned in the phases of human development and in the step-wise realization of our plans and projects. Through this enlivened contemplative activity, our thinking is transformed and gradually becomes not only attuned to, but capable of consciously participating in, and working with, the creative forces that give rise to developmental processes.

When we focus our attention on the rhythms of life we can gain a new awareness of our deep, intrinsic kinship with nature, an enthusiasm for the further development of our capacities, and a sense of responsibility for what we contribute out of these abilities to the future development of society and nature.

Includes numerous color illustrations.

Dr. Jan Diek van Mansvelt is a former Chairman of Avalon Foundation and an organic farming pioneer who has been involved in the development of organic and biodynamic agriculture in the Netherlands and internationally. He is a founder and former chairman of the Louis Bolk Institute and was also director of Warmonderhof center for biodynamic agriculture and member of the International Representatives Council for Biodynamic Agriculture.

​In 1981, he was appointed Extraordinary Professor of Alternative Methods in Agriculture at Wageningen Agricultural University in the Netherlands, where he continued working until 2000. He has been a long-term board member of the Dutch Platform of Biological Agriculture and Nutrition. In 1986–1992, he served as member of the World Board of the International Federation of Organic Agricultural Movements (IFOAM) and was its president 1988–1992. He was also president, and is now Honorary Board Member of the Dutch Biodynamic Association.

​In 1991, Dr. Diek van Mansvelt was appointed Foreign Member of the Russian Academy of Agricultural Sciences. He has published on organic farming extensively and lectured worldwide. For his merits on promotion of organic agriculture the Kingdom of the Netherlands awarded him a chivalric Order of Orange-Nassau.

Pieter van der Ree was born in Rotterdam and studied architecture at the Technical University in Delft in the Netherlands. Since 1990 he has been working as an architect in the field of ecological building and organic architecture. In 2000 he wrote a book on Organic Architecture and in 2003 composed a traveling exhibition on the same topic at venues in Amsterdam, Berlin, Tampere, Liege, and Tallinn. Since 2005, he has been professor of organic architecture at the Alanus Hochschule near Bonn, Germany, and lectures and offers courses on architecture throughout Europe.

Laura Liska is a naturalist, researcher, photographer, and writer who spends a vast amount of her time wandering among magnificent landscapes and works of art, wondering about color, seasonality and beauty. She has been a freelance research associate with the Institute for Contextual Science at the Goetheanum in Switzerland for over a decade. Her original “Falling Leaves Project” explores nature’s coloring in the seasonal cycle of the year through applications of Goethe’s color theory and Rudolf Steiner’s anthroposophical spiritual science. Her current research expands into questions of scientific and theological aesthetics, and the role of beauty in the reconciliation of science, art, and religion. She also has the privilege of editing and translating written works by European Goethean scientists for the English-speaking world. Prior to all that she worked as both an artist and as the biodynamic education coordinator for Rudolf Steiner College, the Biodynamic Association of Northern California, and the Biodynamic Association of North America. Laura currently resides in the French Alsace on the border of Switzerland where she continues to wander happily in stunning Alpine valleys and through Europe’s exquisite museums of art.