Reich developed his theory of orgone energy over several years and expanded it throughout his lifetime. His theory was the result of experiences with his neurotic patients and his biological experiments, which he felt provided concrete evidence for the existence of orgone.
Orgone energy can be thought of as organic or "life-energy." Reich first observed this energy while studying the bioelectric nature of pleasure and anxiety. Using a galvanometer, he discovered that in pleasurable situations skin has a charge, while in displeaurable ones it does not. He initially called this phenomenon "bioelectric energy."
Later, while attempting to research the origin of life, Reich discovered what he termed bions. These globules of energy seemed to give off a certain radiation, such that when objects were left near the cultures containing bions, those objects became highly charged. Reich later observed that this radiation was the same energy he had observed in his skin conductance experiments, and that indeed, this energy surrounded all living things and was free in the atmosphere. He renamed this energy "orgone."
After conducting an experiment in which Reich believed he had succeeded in developing protozoa from bions, he began to investigate the formation of cancer cells. He believed that cancer cells formed in the same way, and supposedly produced a motion picture in which cancer cells did indeed develop from the breakdown of living tissue. Reich felt certain that this "biopathy" was the result of sexual repression.
Continuing his cancer research, Reich developed the orgone accumulator (ORAC), which was intended to produce a concentration of orgone energy. The device itself was simply a large box constructed by alternating layers of metal (preferably iron) and organic material, often wood. He experimented with the ORAC by keeping both healthy mice and mice with cancer in the accumulator and comparing their lifespans with control mice which were not kept in the ORAC. Reich found that even the mice with cancer lived longer than the controls who had not been kept in the ORAC.
Reich continued his accumulator experiments, moving on to work with humans. He found that the ORAC helped cure a variety of ailments. These ailments were assumed to be due to a lack of energy within the organism which the ORAC replaced. Subjects who already had high levels of orgone energy were not able to tolerate the accumulator.
Believing that orgone energy might be used to combat nuclear radiation, Reich undertook what would be called "The Oranur Experiment.
"Paul David Buell." Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. Max Planck Institute, n.d. Web.
...to establish the tolerance level for radium. The center for Human Radiobiology was established in 1968 with the primary purpose of examining living dial painters.
The first class of experiments was conducted for the Nazi High Command. These experiments dealt with survival and rescue. They involved freezing and extreme temperatures as well as the ingestion of seawater and altitude changes (Auschwitz Medical Experiments). The freezing experiments were divided into two parts. The first was to see how long it would take to lower body temperature, and the next to decide how to best resuscitate a frozen victim. The doctors would submerge a naked victim in an icy vat of water. They would insert and insulated thermometer into the victim’s rectum in order to monitor his or her body temperature. The icy vat proved to be the fastest way to drop the body’s temperature. Once the body reached 25 degrees Celsius, the victim would usually die. Anther manner to carry out such an experiment was to strap a naked victim to a stretcher and leave him outdoors during extreme winter temperatur...
With his experience he had many doubts about the Hydrogen Bomb, whether it would work. “Oppenheimer and others on technical and moral grounds had initially opposed building the H-bomb, seeking instead an international moratorium on its development” (Teller and Ulam).
...sts alone would not have been able to put these theories into practice without the support of others. I find it hard to imagine that one reading these theories would be able to believe that these allegations were valid and justifiable reasons for the extermination of human beings. I believe it was economical interest that put these theories into action, not actually belief in the theories themselves. The theories served as justification, as an excuse for exterminating innocent people that posed as a threat to Aryan-Germans. It is appalling that something as Barbaric as the treatment of humans during the Third Reich actually took place, and that such obscure theories such as those I have discussed provided the structure for the Nazi State.
He liked to do experiments on twins because he could easily see what changes it does to the one that he would test it compares to the healthy one. Such things like this add up to making Auschwitz how bad it was.
As this topic is rather unusual there has not been much research done therefore theorists were hard to find.
"Nazi Medical Experiments." United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. United States Holocaust Memorial Council, 10 June 2013. Web. 23 Mar. 2014.
Recent work has indicated that while certain sorts of science were annihilated under the Nazi administration, different sorts thrived. Sciences of a connected nature were particularly empowered, as were sciences that fit inside the bigger system of Nazi isolation and annihi...
Note: The first seconds of the universe were pure energy. That energy was transformed into the matter and energy that is recognizable today. Einstein’s notable equation, E=MC2, predicted the relationship between energy and mass. In other words, energy is equal to mass, multiplied by the speed of light squared.
The first experiment is the “Monster Study” it is about stuttering. This took place in 1939...
Pasachoff, Naomi. Albert Einstein with Profiles of Isaac Newton and J. Robert Oppenheimer. Chicago, IL: World Book Inc. 2007. Print.
Psychology started, and had a long history, as a topic within the fields of philosophy and physiology. It then became an independent field of its own through the work of the German Wilhelm Wundt, the founder of experimental psychology and structuralism. Wundt stressed the use of scientific methods in psychology, particularly through the use of introspection. In 1875, a room was set-aside for Wundt for demonstrations in what we now call sensation and perception. This is the same year that William James set up a similar lab at Harvard. Wilhelm Wundt and William James are usually thought of as the fathers of psychology, as well as the founders of psychology?s first two great ?schools? Structuralism and Functionalism. Psychologist Edward B Titchner said; ?to study the brain and the unconscious we should break it into its structural elements, after that we can construct it into a whole and understand what it does.? (psicafe.com)
Individual psychology was discovered by Alfred Adler who named his theory as such to emphasize the holistic perspective.
Scientists from earlier times helped influence the discoveries that lead to the development of atomic energy. In the late 1800’s, Dalton created the Atomic Theory which explains atoms, elements and compounds (Henderson 1). This was important to the study of and understanding of atoms to future scientists. The Atomic Theory was a list of scientific laws regarding atoms and their potential abilities. Roentagen, used Dalton’s findings and discovered x-rays which could pass through solid objects (Henderson 1). Although he did not discover radiation from the x-rays, he did help lay the foundations for electromagnetic waves. Shortly after Roentagen’s findings, J.J. Thompson discovered the electron which was responsible for defining the atom’s characteristics (Henderson 2). The electron helped scientists uncover why an atom responds to reactions the way it does and how it received its “personality”. Dalton’s, Roentagen’s and Thompson’s findings helped guide other scientists to discovering the uses of atomic energy and reactions. Such applications were discovered in the early 1900’s by using Einstein’s equation, which stated that if a chain reaction occurred, cheap, reliable energy could b...