10 lectures, Vienna, June 1-11, 1922 (CW 83) This challenging set of lectures attempts to lift the veil from modern social and spiritual problems as experienced in the contrasts between East and West. By ascribing to human thinking only a shadowy, subjective validity, modern science tries to invalidate the very faculty that gives us our human dignity. At the same time, however, this "unreality" of thought images makes possible an inner freedom that scientific doctrine tends to deny in principle. The need arises from these contradictions to extend the limits of ordinary scientific thinking to new investigative faculties. In part one, "Anthroposophy and the Sciences," Rudolf Steiner esplains that this can be achieved in a healthy way through two kinds of meditative excercises, very different in character from yoga and asceticism and other older paths to higher knowledge. These disciplines lead to the discovery of a paradoxical truth: "If you would know yourself, look into the world. If you would know the world, look into your self." The spiritual-scientific philosophy thus presented provides a framework within which the second half of the book ("Anthroposophy and Sociology") considers how a healthy social life can be understood and shaped. Today the old social instincts of humanity have grown uncertain, and the rational intellect is proving unsuited to comprehend and foster a humane social life. While admitting that we are only beginning to discover the right relationship between individual and community, Steiner describes how a conscious spiritual life is able to give the same social certainties as did the earlier "instictive" life. He then explains how we might find a way from our highly developed sense of personal self into the worldwide social organism. This volume is a translation of Westliche und östliche Weltgegensätzlichkeit - Wege zu ihre Verständigung durch Anthroposophie.

A page-turning science-fiction thriller from the author of Paradox Bound and the Ex-Heroes series. Step into the fold. It's perfectly safe. The folks in Mike Erikson's small New England town would say he's just your average, everyday guy. And that's exactly how Mike likes it. Sure, the life he's chosen isn’t much of a challenge to someone with his unique gifts, but he’s content with his quiet and peaceful existence. That is, until an old friend presents him with an irresistible mystery, one that Mike is uniquely qualified to solve: far out in the California desert, a team of DARPA scientists has invented a device they affectionately call the Albuquerque Door. Using a cryptic computer equation and magnetic fields to “fold” dimensions, it shrinks distances so that a traveler can travel hundreds of feet with a single step. The invention promises to make mankind’s dreams of teleportation a reality. And, the scientists insist, traveling through the Door is completely safe. Yet evidence is mounting that this miraculous machine isn’t quite what it seems—and that its creators are harboring a dangerous secret. As his investigations draw him deeper into the puzzle, Mike begins to fear there’s only one answer that makes sense. And if he’s right, it may only be a matter of time before the project destroys…everything. A cunningly inventive mystery featuring a hero worthy of Sherlock Holmes and a terrifying final twist you’ll never see coming, The Fold is that rarest of things: a genuinely page-turning science-fiction thriller.

Presents the findings of the Carnegie Foundation study on adolescence, an interdisciplinary synthesis of research into the biological, social, and psychological changes occurring during this key stage in the life span. Focuses on the contexts of adolescent life-- social and ethnic, family and school, leisure and work.