While Goethe is generally dismissed as a scientist, this book provides a new reading of the German poet's work in botany and optical physics, arguing that Goethe's 'non-standard' or Paracelsian conception of scientific method is an important and still relevant alternative to the orthodox scientific tradition. The author examines both Goethe's sources and his critics, including Helmholtz, Heisenberg and Pauli in physics, Schopenhauer and Wittgenstein in philosophy, and Rudolf Steiner in occultism. This unique work will interest researchers and academicians in the history and philosophy of science.