In physics, energy () is an indirectly observed quantity. It is often understood as the ability a physical system has to do work on other physical systems. Since work is defined as a force acting through a distance (a length of space), energy is always equivalent to the ability to exert pulls or pushes against the basic forces of nature, along a path of a certain length.

The total energy contained in an object is identified with its mass, and energy (like mass), cannot be created or destroyed. When matter (ordinary material particles) is changed into energy (such as energy of motion, or into radiation), the mass of the system does not change through the transformation process. However, there may be mechanistic limits as to how much of the matter in an object may be changed into other types of energy and thus into work, on other systems. Energy, like mass, is a scalar physical quantity. In the International System of Units (SI), energy is measured in joules, but in many fields other units, such as kilowatt-hours and kilocalories, are customary. All of these units translate to units of work, which is always defined in terms of forces and the distances that the forces act through.

A system can transfer energy to another system by simply transferring matter to it (since matter is equivalent to energy, in accordance with its mass). However, when energy is transferred by means other than matter-transfer, the transfer produces changes in the second system, as a result of work done on it. This work manifests itself as the effect of force(s) applied through distances within the target system. For example, a system can emit energy to another by transferring (radiating) electromagnetic energy, but this creates forces upon the particles that absorb the radiation. Similarly, a system may transfer energy to another by physically impacting it, but that case the energy of motion in an object, called kinetic energy, results in forces acting over distances (new energy) to appear in another object that is struck. Transfer of thermal energy by heat occurs by both of these mechanisms: heat can be transferred by electromagnetic radiation, or by physical contact in which direct particle-particle impacts transfer kinetic energy.

Energy may be stored in systems without being present as matter, or as kinetic or electromagnetic energy. Stored energy is created whenever a particle has been moved through a field it interacts with (requiring a force to do so), but the energy to accomplish this is stored as a new position of the particles in the field—a configuration that must be "held" or fixed by a different type of force (otherwise, the new configuration would resolve itself by the field pushing or pulling the particle back toward its previous position). This type of energy "stored" by force-fields and particles that have been forced into a new physical configuration in the field by doing work on them by another system, is referred to as potential energy. A simple example of potential energy is the work needed to lift an object in a gravity field, up to a support. Each of the basic forces of nature is associated with a different type of potential energy, and all types of potential energy (like all other types of energy) appears as system mass, whenever present. For example, a compressed spring will be slightly more massive than before it was compressed. Likewise, whenever energy is transferred between systems by any mechanism, an associated mass is transferred with it.

Any form of energy may be transformed into another form. For example, all types of potential energy are converted into kinetic energy when the objects are given freedom to move to different position (as for example, when an object falls off a support). When energy is in a form other than thermal energy, it may be transformed with good or even perfect efficiency, to any other type of energy, including electricity or production of new particles of matter. With thermal energy, however, there are often limits to the efficiency of the conversion to other forms of energy, as described by the second law of thermodynamics.

In all such energy transformation processes, the total energy remains the same, and a transfer of energy from one system to another, results in a loss to compensate for any gain. This principle, the conservation of energy, was first postulated in the early 19th century, and applies to any isolated system. According to Noether's theorem, the conservation of energy is a consequence of the fact that the laws of physics do not change over time.

Although the total energy of a system does not change with time, its value may depend on the frame of reference. For example, a seated passenger in a moving airplane has zero kinetic energy relative to the airplane, but non-zero kinetic energy (and higher total energy) relative to the Earth.

History

The word ''energy'' derives from the Greek '''', which possibly appears for the first time in the work of Aristotle in the 4th century BC.

The concept of energy emerged out of the idea of ''vis viva'' (living force), which Gottfried Leibniz defined as the product of the mass of an object and its velocity squared; he believed that total ''vis viva'' was conserved. To account for slowing due to friction, Leibniz theorized that thermal energy consisted of the random motion of the constituent parts of matter, a view shared by Isaac Newton, although it would be more than a century until this was generally accepted. In 1807, Thomas Young was possibly the first to use the term "energy" instead of ''vis viva'', in its modern sense. Gustave-Gaspard Coriolis described "kinetic energy" in 1829 in its modern sense, and in 1853, William Rankine coined the term "potential energy". It was argued for some years whether energy was a substance (the caloric) or merely a physical quantity, such as momentum.

William Thomson (Lord Kelvin) amalgamated all of these laws into the laws of thermodynamics, which aided in the rapid development of explanations of chemical processes by Rudolf Clausius, Josiah Willard Gibbs, and Walther Nernst. It also led to a mathematical formulation of the concept of entropy by Clausius and to the introduction of laws of radiant energy by Jožef Stefan.

During a 1961 lecture for undergraduate students at the California Institute of Technology, Richard Feynman, a celebrated physics teacher and Nobel Laureate, said this about the concept of energy:

Since 1918 it has been known that the law of conservation of energy is the direct mathematical consequence of the translational symmetry of the quantity conjugate to energy, namely time. That is, energy is conserved because the laws of physics do not distinguish between different instants of time (see Noether's theorem).

Energy in various contexts

The concept of energy and its transformations is useful in explaining and predicting most natural phenomena. The ''direction'' of transformations in energy (what kind of energy is transformed to what other kind) is often described by entropy (equal energy spread among all available degrees of freedom) considerations, as in practice all energy transformations are permitted on a small scale, but certain larger transformations are not permitted because it is statistically unlikely that energy or matter will randomly move into more concentrated forms or smaller spaces.

The concept of energy is widespread in all sciences. In the context of chemistry, energy is an attribute of a substance as a consequence of its atomic, molecular or aggregate structure. Since a chemical transformation is accompanied by a change in one or more of these kinds of structure, it is invariably accompanied by an increase or decrease of energy of the substances involved. Some energy is transferred between the surroundings and the reactants of the reaction in the form of heat or light; thus the products of a reaction may have more or less energy than the reactants. A reaction is said to be exergonic if the final state is lower on the energy scale than the initial state; in the case of endergonic reactions the situation is the reverse. Chemical reactions are invariably not possible unless the reactants surmount an energy barrier known as the activation energy. The ''speed'' of a chemical reaction (at given temperature ''T'') is related to the activation energy ''E'', by the Boltzmann's population factor e^{−''E''/''kT''}that is the probability of molecule to have energy greater than or equal to ''E'' at the given temperature ''T''. This exponential dependence of a reaction rate on temperature is known as the Arrhenius equation.The activation energy necessary for a chemical reaction can be in the form of thermal energy. In biology, energy is an attribute of all biological systems from the biosphere to the smallest living organism. Within an organism it is responsible for growth and development of a biological cell or an organelle of a biological organism. Energy is thus often said to be stored by cells in the structures of molecules of substances such as carbohydrates (including sugars), lipids, and proteins, which release energy when reacted with oxygen in respiration. In human terms, the human equivalent (H-e) (Human energy conversion) indicates, for a given amount of energy expenditure, the relative quantity of energy needed for human metabolism, assuming an average human energy expenditure of 12,500kJ per day and a basal metabolic rate of 80 watts. For example, if our bodies run (on average) at 80 watts, then a light bulb running at 100 watts is running at 1.25 human equivalents (100 ÷ 80) i.e. 1.25 H-e. For a difficult task of only a few seconds' duration, a person can put out thousands of watts, many times the 746 watts in one official horsepower. For tasks lasting a few minutes, a fit human can generate perhaps 1,000 watts. For an activity that must be sustained for an hour, output drops to around 300; for an activity kept up all day, 150 watts is about the maximum. The human equivalent assists understanding of energy flows in physical and biological systems by expressing energy units in human terms: it provides a “feel” for the use of a given amount of energy In geology, continental drift, mountain ranges, volcanoes, and earthquakes are phenomena that can be explained in terms of energy transformations in the Earth's interior., while meteorological phenomena like wind, rain, hail, snow, lightning, tornadoes and hurricanes, are all a result of energy transformations brought about by solar energy on the atmosphere of the planet Earth.

In cosmology and astronomy the phenomena of stars, nova, supernova, quasars and gamma ray bursts are the universe's highest-output energy transformations of matter. All stellar phenomena (including solar activity) are driven by various kinds of energy transformations. Energy in such transformations is either from gravitational collapse of matter (usually molecular hydrogen) into various classes of astronomical objects (stars, black holes, etc.), or from nuclear fusion (of lighter elements, primarily hydrogen).

Energy transformations in the universe over time are characterized by various kinds of potential energy that has been available since the Big Bang, later being "released" (transformed to more active types of energy such as kinetic or radiant energy), when a triggering mechanism is available.

Familiar examples of such processes include nuclear decay, in which energy is released that was originally "stored" in heavy isotopes (such as uranium and thorium), by nucleosynthesis, a process ultimately using the gravitational potential energy released from the gravitational collapse of supernovae, to store energy in the creation of these heavy elements before they were incorporated into the solar system and the Earth. This energy is triggered and released in nuclear fission bombs. In a slower process, radioactive decay of these atoms in the core of the Earth releases heat. This thermal energy drives plate tectonics and may lift mountains, via orogenesis. This slow lifting represents a kind of gravitational potential energy storage of the thermal energy, which may be later released to active kinetic energy in landslides, after a triggering event. Earthquakes also release stored elastic potential energy in rocks, a store that has been produced ultimately from the same radioactive heat sources. Thus, according to present understanding, familiar events such as landslides and earthquakes release energy that has been stored as potential energy in the Earth's gravitational field or elastic strain (mechanical potential energy) in rocks. Prior to this, they represent release of energy that has been stored in heavy atoms since the collapse of long-destroyed supernova stars created these atoms.

In another similar chain of transformations beginning at the dawn of the universe, nuclear fusion of hydrogen in the Sun also releases another store of potential energy which was created at the time of the Big Bang. At that time, according to theory, space expanded and the universe cooled too rapidly for hydrogen to completely fuse into heavier elements. This meant that hydrogen represents a store of potential energy that can be released by fusion. Such a fusion process is triggered by heat and pressure generated from gravitational collapse of hydrogen clouds when they produce stars, and some of the fusion energy is then transformed into sunlight. Such sunlight from our Sun may again be stored as gravitational potential energy after it strikes the Earth, as (for example) water evaporates from oceans and is deposited upon mountains (where, after being released at a hydroelectric dam, it can be used to drive turbines or generators to produce electricity). Sunlight also drives many weather phenomena, save those generated by volcanic events. An example of a solar-mediated weather event is a hurricane, which occurs when large unstable areas of warm ocean, heated over months, give up some of their thermal energy suddenly to power a few days of violent air movement. Sunlight is also captured by plants as ''chemical potential energy'' in photosynthesis, when carbon dioxide and water (two low-energy compounds) are converted into the high-energy compounds carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. Plants also release oxygen during photosynthesis, which is utilized by living organisms as an electron acceptor, to release the energy of carbohydrates, lipids, and proteins. Release of the energy stored during photosynthesis as heat or light may be triggered suddenly by a spark, in a forest fire, or it may be made available more slowly for animal or human metabolism, when these molecules are ingested, and catabolism is triggered by enzyme action.

Through all of these transformation chains, potential energy stored at the time of the Big Bang is later released by intermediate events, sometimes being stored in a number of ways over time between releases, as more active energy. In all these events, one kind of energy is converted to other types of energy, including heat.

Distinction between energy and power

Although in everyday usage the terms ''energy'' and ''power'' are essentially synonyms, scientists and engineers distinguish between them. In its technical sense, power is not at all the same as energy, but is the rate at which energy is converted (or, equivalently, at which work is performed). Thus a hydroelectric plant, by allowing the water above the dam to pass through turbines, converts the water's potential energy into kinetic energy and ultimately into electric energy, whereas the amount of electric energy that is generated per unit of time is the electric power generated.

Conservation of energy

Energy is subject to the law of conservation of energy. According to this law, energy can neither be created (produced) nor destroyed by itself. It can only be transformed.

Most kinds of energy (with gravitational energy being a notable exception) are subject to strict local conservation laws as well. In this case, energy can only be exchanged between adjacent regions of space, and all observers agree as to the volumetric density of energy in any given space. There is also a global law of conservation of energy, stating that the total energy of the universe cannot change; this is a corollary of the local law, but not vice versa. Conservation of energy is the mathematical consequence of translational symmetry of time (that is, the indistinguishability of time intervals taken at different time) - see Noether's theorem.

According to energy conservation law the total inflow of energy into a system must equal the total outflow of energy from the system, plus the change in the energy contained within the system.

This law is a fundamental principle of physics. It follows from the translational symmetry of time, a property of most phenomena below the cosmic scale that makes them independent of their locations on the time coordinate. Put differently, yesterday, today, and tomorrow are physically indistinguishable.

This is because energy is the quantity which is canonical conjugate to time. This mathematical entanglement of energy and time also results in the uncertainty principle - it is impossible to define the exact amount of energy during any definite time interval. The uncertainty principle should not be confused with energy conservation - rather it provides mathematical limits to which energy can in principle be defined and measured.

In quantum mechanics energy is expressed using the Hamiltonian operator. On any time scales, the uncertainty in the energy is by

: $\backslash Delta\; E\; \backslash Delta\; t\; \backslash ge\; \backslash frac\; \{\; \backslash hbar\; \}\; \{2\; \}$

which is similar in form to the Heisenberg uncertainty principle (but not really mathematically equivalent thereto, since ''H'' and ''t'' are not dynamically conjugate variables, neither in classical nor in quantum mechanics).

In particle physics, this inequality permits a qualitative understanding of virtual particles which carry momentum, exchange by which and with real particles, is responsible for the creation of all known fundamental forces (more accurately known as fundamental interactions). Virtual photons (which are simply lowest quantum mechanical energy state of photons) are also responsible for electrostatic interaction between electric charges (which results in Coulomb law), for spontaneous radiative decay of exited atomic and nuclear states, for the Casimir force, for van der Waals bond forces and some other observable phenomena.

Applications of the concept of energy

Energy is subject to a strict global conservation law; that is, whenever one measures (or calculates) the total energy of a system of particles whose interactions do not depend explicitly on time, it is found that the total energy of the system always remains constant.

The total energy of a system can be subdivided and classified in various ways. For example, it is sometimes convenient to distinguish potential energy (which is a function of coordinates only) from kinetic energy (which is a function of coordinate time derivatives only). It may also be convenient to distinguish gravitational energy, electric energy, thermal energy, and other forms. These classifications overlap; for instance, thermal energy usually consists partly of kinetic and partly of potential energy.

The ''transfer'' of energy can take various forms; familiar examples include work, heat flow, and advection, as discussed below.

The word "energy" is also used outside of physics in many ways, which can lead to ambiguity and inconsistency. The vernacular terminology is not consistent with technical terminology. For example, while energy is always conserved (in the sense that the total energy does not change despite energy transformations), energy can be converted into a form, e.g., thermal energy, that cannot be utilized to perform work. When one talks about "conserving energy by driving less," one talks about conserving fossil fuels and preventing useful energy from being lost as heat. This usage of "conserve" differs from that of the law of conservation of energy.

In classical physics energy is considered a scalar quantity, the canonical conjugate to time. In special relativity energy is also a scalar (although not a Lorentz scalar but a time component of the energy-momentum 4-vector). In other words, energy is invariant with respect to rotations of space, but not invariant with respect to rotations of space-time (= boosts).

Energy transfer

Because energy is strictly conserved and is also locally conserved (wherever it can be defined), it is important to remember that by the definition of energy the transfer of energy between the "system" and adjacent regions is work. A familiar example is ''mechanical work''. In simple cases this is written as the following equation:

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if there are no other energy-transfer processes involved. Here $E$ is the amount of energy transferred, and $W$  represents the work done on the system.

More generally, the energy transfer can be split into two categories:

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where $Q$ represents the heat flow into the system.

There are other ways in which an open system can gain or lose energy. In chemical systems, energy can be added to a system by means of adding substances with different chemical potentials, which potentials are then extracted (both of these process are illustrated by fueling an auto, a system which gains in energy thereby, without addition of either work or heat). Winding a clock would be adding energy to a mechanical system. These terms may be added to the above equation, or they can generally be subsumed into a quantity called "energy addition term $E$" which refers to ''any'' type of energy carried over the surface of a control volume or system volume. Examples may be seen above, and many others can be imagined (for example, the kinetic energy of a stream of particles entering a system, or energy from a laser beam adds to system energy, without either being either work-done or heat-added, in the classic senses).

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Where E in this general equation represents other additional advected energy terms not covered by work done on a system, or heat added to it.

Energy is also transferred from potential energy ($E\_p$) to kinetic energy ($E\_k$) and then back to potential energy constantly. This is referred to as conservation of energy. In this closed system, energy cannot be created or destroyed; therefore, the initial energy and the final energy will be equal to each other. This can be demonstrated by the following:

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The equation can then be simplified further since $E\_p\; =\; mgh$ (mass times acceleration due to gravity times the height) and $E\_k\; =\; \backslash frac\{1\}\{2\}\; mv^2$ (half mass times velocity squared). Then the total amount of energy can be found by adding $E\_p\; +\; E\_k\; =\; E\_\{total\}$.

Energy and the laws of motion

In classical mechanics, energy is a conceptually and mathematically useful property, as it is a conserved quantity. Several formulations of mechanics have been developed using energy as a core concept.

The Hamiltonian

The total energy of a system is sometimes called the Hamiltonian, after William Rowan Hamilton. The classical equations of motion can be written in terms of the Hamiltonian, even for highly complex or abstract systems. These classical equations have remarkably direct analogs in nonrelativistic quantum mechanics.

The Lagrangian

Another energy-related concept is called the Lagrangian, after Joseph Louis Lagrange. This is even more fundamental than the Hamiltonian, and can be used to derive the equations of motion. It was invented in the context of classical mechanics, but is generally useful in modern physics. The Lagrangian is defined as the kinetic energy ''minus'' the potential energy.

Usually, the Lagrange formalism is mathematically more convenient than the Hamiltonian for non-conservative systems (such as systems with friction).

Energy and thermodynamics

Internal energy

Internal energy is the sum of all microscopic forms of energy of a system. It is the energy needed to create the system. It is related to the potential energy, e.g., molecular structure, crystal structure, and other geometric aspects, as well as the motion of the particles, in form of kinetic energy. Thermodynamics is chiefly concerned with changes in internal energy and not its absolute value, which is impossible to determine with thermodynamics alone.

The laws of thermodynamics

According to the second law of thermodynamics, work can be totally converted into heat, but not vice versa. This is a mathematical consequence of statistical mechanics. The first law of thermodynamics simply asserts that energy is conserved, and that heat is included as a form of energy transfer. A commonly used corollary of the first law is that for a "system" subject only to pressure forces and heat transfer (e.g., a cylinder-full of gas), the differential change in energy of the system (with a ''gain'' in energy signified by a positive quantity) is given as the following equation:

:$\backslash mathrm\{d\}E\; =\; T\backslash mathrm\{d\}S\; -\; P\backslash mathrm\{d\}V\backslash ,$,

where the first term on the right is the heat transfer into the system, defined in terms of temperature ''T'' and entropy ''S'' (in which entropy increases and the change d''S'' is positive when the system is heated), and the last term on the right hand side is identified as "work" done on the system, where pressure is ''P'' and volume ''V'' (the negative sign results since compression of the system requires work to be done on it and so the volume change, d''V'', is negative when work is done on the system). Although this equation is the standard textbook example of energy conservation in classical thermodynamics, it is highly specific, ignoring all chemical, electric, nuclear, and gravitational forces, effects such as advection of any form of energy other than heat, and because it contains a term that depends on temperature. The most general statement of the first law (i.e., conservation of energy) is valid even in situations in which temperature is undefinable.

Energy is sometimes expressed as the following equation:

:$\backslash mathrm\{d\}E=\backslash delta\; Q+\backslash delta\; W\backslash ,$,

which is unsatisfactory because there cannot exist any thermodynamic state functions ''W'' or ''Q'' that are meaningful on the right hand side of this equation, except perhaps in trivial cases.

Equipartition of energy

The energy of a mechanical harmonic oscillator (a mass on a spring) is alternatively kinetic and potential. At two points in the oscillation cycle it is entirely kinetic, and alternatively at two other points it is entirely potential. Over the whole cycle, or over many cycles, net energy is thus equally split between kinetic and potential. This is called equipartition principle; total energy of a system with many degrees of freedom is equally split among all available degrees of freedom.

This principle is vitally important to understanding the behavior of a quantity closely related to energy, called entropy. Entropy is a measure of evenness of a distribution of energy between parts of a system. When an isolated system is given more degrees of freedom (i.e., given new available energy states that are the same as existing states), then total energy spreads over all available degrees equally without distinction between "new" and "old" degrees. This mathematical result is called the second law of thermodynamics.

Oscillators, phonons, and photons

In an ensemble (connected collection) of unsynchronized oscillators, the average energy is spread equally between kinetic and potential types.

In a solid, thermal energy (often referred to loosely as heat content) can be accurately described by an ensemble of thermal phonons that act as mechanical oscillators. In this model, thermal energy is equally kinetic and potential.

In an ideal gas, the interaction potential between particles is essentially the delta function which stores no energy: thus, all of the thermal energy is kinetic.

Because an electric oscillator (LC circuit) is analogous to a mechanical oscillator, its energy must be, on average, equally kinetic and potential. It is entirely arbitrary whether the magnetic energy is considered kinetic and whether the electric energy is considered potential, or vice versa. That is, either the inductor is analogous to the mass while the capacitor is analogous to the spring, or vice versa.

1. By extension of the previous line of thought, in free space the electromagnetic field can be considered an ensemble of oscillators, meaning that radiation energy can be considered equally potential and kinetic. This model is useful, for example, when the electromagnetic Lagrangian is of primary interest and is interpreted in terms of potential and kinetic energy.

2. On the other hand, in the key equation $m^2\; c^4\; =\; E^2\; -\; p^2\; c^2$, the contribution $mc^2$ is called the rest energy, and all other contributions to the energy are called kinetic energy. For a particle that has mass, this implies that the kinetic energy is $0.5\; p^2/m$ at speeds much smaller than ''c'', as can be proved by writing $E\; =\; mc^2$ √$(1\; +\; p^2\; m^\{-2\}c^\{-2\})$ and expanding the square root to lowest order. By this line of reasoning, the energy of a photon is entirely kinetic, because the photon is massless and has no rest energy. This expression is useful, for example, when the energy-versus-momentum relationship is of primary interest.

The two analyses are entirely consistent. The electric and magnetic degrees of freedom in item 1 are ''transverse'' to the direction of motion, while the speed in item 2 is ''along'' the direction of motion. For non-relativistic particles these two notions of potential versus kinetic energy are numerically equal, so the ambiguity is harmless, but not so for relativistic particles.

Work and virtual work

Work, a form of energy, is force times distance.

: $W\; =\; \backslash int\_C\; \backslash mathbf\{F\}\; \backslash cdot\; \backslash mathrm\{d\}\; \backslash mathbf\{s\}$

This says that the work ($W$) is equal to the line integral of the force F along a path ''C''; for details see the mechanical work article.

Work and thus energy is frame dependent. For example, consider a ball being hit by a bat. In the center-of-mass reference frame, the bat does no work on the ball. But, in the reference frame of the person swinging the bat, considerable work is done on the ball.

Quantum mechanics

In quantum mechanics energy is defined in terms of the energy operator as a time derivative of the wave function. The Schrödinger equation equates the energy operator to the full energy of a particle or a system. In results can be considered as a definition of measurement of energy in quantum mechanics. The Schrödinger equation describes the space- and time-dependence of slow changing (non-relativistic) wave function of quantum systems. The solution of this equation for bound system is discrete (a set of permitted states, each characterized by an energy level) which results in the concept of quanta. In the solution of the Schrödinger equation for any oscillator (vibrator) and for electromagnetic waves in a vacuum, the resulting energy states are related to the frequency by the Planck equation $E\; =\; h\backslash nu$ (where $h$ is the Planck's constant and $\backslash nu$ the frequency). In the case of electromagnetic wave these energy states are called quanta of light or photons.

Relativity

When calculating kinetic energy (work to accelerate a mass from zero speed to some finite speed) relativistically - using Lorentz transformations instead of Newtonian mechanics, Einstein discovered an unexpected by-product of these calculations to be an energy term which does not vanish at zero speed. He called it rest mass energy - energy which every mass must possess even when being at rest. The amount of energy is directly proportional to the mass of body:

:$E\; =\; m\; c^2$, where :''m'' is the mass, :''c'' is the speed of light in vacuum, :''E'' is the rest mass energy.

For example, consider electron-positron annihilation, in which the rest mass of individual particles is destroyed, but the inertia equivalent of the system of the two particles (its invariant mass) remains (since all energy is associated with mass), and this inertia and invariant mass is carried off by photons which individually are massless, but as a system retain their mass. This is a reversible process - the inverse process is called pair creation - in which the rest mass of particles is created from energy of two (or more) annihilating photons. In this system the matter (electrons and positrons) is destroyed and changed to non-matter energy (the photons). However, the total system mass and energy do not change during this interaction.

In general relativity, the stress-energy tensor serves as the source term for the gravitational field, in rough analogy to the way mass serves as the source term in the non-relativistic Newtonian approximation.

It is not uncommon to hear that energy is "equivalent" to mass. It would be more accurate to state that every energy has an inertia and gravity equivalent, and because mass is a form of energy, then mass too has inertia and gravity associated with it.

Energy and life

Any living organism relies on an external source of energy—radiation from the Sun in the case of green plants; chemical energy in some form in the case of animals—to be able to grow and reproduce. The daily 1500–2000 Calories (6–8 MJ) recommended for a human adult are taken as a combination of oxygen and food molecules, the latter mostly carbohydrates and fats, of which glucose (C₆H₁₂O₆) and stearin (C₅₇H₁₁₀O₆) are convenient examples. The food molecules are oxidised to carbon dioxide and water in the mitochondria ::C₆H₁₂O₆ + 6O₂ → 6CO₂ + 6H₂O ::C₅₇H₁₁₀O₆ + 81.5O₂ → 57CO₂ + 55H₂O and some of the energy is used to convert ADP into ATP ::ADP + HPO₄²⁻ → ATP + H₂O The rest of the chemical energy in the carbohydrate or fat is converted into heat: the ATP is used as a sort of "energy currency", and some of the chemical energy it contains when split and reacted with water, is used for other metabolism (at each stage of a metabolic pathway, some chemical energy is converted into heat). Only a tiny fraction of the original chemical energy is used for work: :gain in kinetic energy of a sprinter during a 100 m race: 4 kJ :gain in gravitational potential energy of a 150 kg weight lifted through 2 metres: 3kJ :Daily food intake of a normal adult: 6–8 MJ

It would appear that living organisms are remarkably inefficient (in the physical sense) in their use of the energy they receive (chemical energy or radiation), and it is true that most real machines manage higher efficiencies. In growing organisms the energy that is converted to heat serves a vital purpose, as it allows the organism tissue to be highly ordered with regard to the molecules it is built from. The second law of thermodynamics states that energy (and matter) tends to become more evenly spread out across the universe: to concentrate energy (or matter) in one specific place, it is necessary to spread out a greater amount of energy (as heat) across the remainder of the universe ("the surroundings"). Simpler organisms can achieve higher energy efficiencies than more complex ones, but the complex organisms can occupy ecological niches that are not available to their simpler brethren. The conversion of a portion of the chemical energy to heat at each step in a metabolic pathway is the physical reason behind the pyramid of biomass observed in ecology: to take just the first step in the food chain, of the estimated 124.7 Pg/a of carbon that is fixed by photosynthesis, 64.3 Pg/a (52%) are used for the metabolism of green plants, i.e. reconverted into carbon dioxide and heat.

Measurement

Because energy is defined as the ability to do work on objects, there is no absolute measure of energy. Only the transition of a system from one state into another can be defined and thus energy is measured in relative terms. The choice of a baseline or zero point is often arbitrary and can be made in whatever way is most convenient for a problem.

Methods

The methods for the measurement of energy often deploy methods for the measurement of still more fundamental concepts of science, namely mass, distance, radiation, temperature, time, electric charge and electric current.

Conventionally the technique most often employed is calorimetry, a thermodynamic technique that relies on the measurement of temperature using a thermometer or of intensity of radiation using a bolometer.

Units

Throughout the history of science, energy has been expressed in several different units such as ergs and calories. At present, the accepted unit of measurement for energy is the SI unit of energy, the joule. In addition to the joule, other units of energy include the kilowatt hour (kWh) and the British thermal unit (Btu). These are both larger units of energy. One kWh is equivalent to exactly 3.6 million joules, and one Btu is equivalent to about 1055 joules.

Energy density

Energy density is a term used for the amount of useful energy stored in a given system or region of space per unit volume.

For fuels, the energy per unit volume is sometimes a useful parameter. In a few applications, comparing, for example, the effectiveness of hydrogen fuel to gasoline it turns out that hydrogen has a higher specific energy than does gasoline, but, even in liquid form, a much lower energy ''density''.

Forms of energy

In the context of physical sciences, several forms of energy have been defined. These include: {| |

Thermal energy, thermal energy in transit is called heat

Chemical energy

Electrical energy

Radiant energy, the energy of electromagnetic radiation

Nuclear energy

|

Magnetic energy

Elastic energy

Sound energy

Mechanical energy

Luminous energy

| |}

These forms of energy may be divided into two main groups; kinetic energy and potential energy. Other familiar types of energy are a varying mix of both potential and kinetic energy.

Energy may be transformed between these forms, some with 100% energy conversion efficiency and others with less. Items that transform between these forms are called transducers.

The above list of the known possible forms of energy is not necessarily complete. Whenever physical scientists discover that a certain phenomenon appears to violate the law of energy conservation, new forms may be added, as is the case with dark energy, a hypothetical form of energy that permeates all of space and tends to increase the rate of expansion of the universe.

Classical mechanics distinguishes between potential energy, which is a function of the position of an object, and kinetic energy, which is a function of its movement. Both position and movement are relative to a frame of reference, which must be specified: this is often (and originally) an arbitrary fixed point on the surface of the Earth, the ''terrestrial'' frame of reference. It has been attempted to categorize ''all'' forms of energy as either kinetic or potential: this is not incorrect, but neither is it clear that it is a real simplification, as Feynman points out:

Transformations of energy

One form of energy can often be readily transformed into another with the help of a device- for instance, a battery, from chemical energy to electric energy; a dam: gravitational potential energy to kinetic energy of moving water (and the blades of a turbine) and ultimately to electric energy through an electric generator. Similarly, in the case of a chemical explosion, chemical potential energy is transformed to kinetic energy and thermal energy in a very short time. Yet another example is that of a pendulum. At its highest points the kinetic energy is zero and the gravitational potential energy is at maximum. At its lowest point the kinetic energy is at maximum and is equal to the decrease of potential energy. If one (unrealistically) assumes that there is no friction, the conversion of energy between these processes is perfect, and the pendulum will continue swinging forever.

Energy gives rise to weight when it is trapped in a system with zero momentum, where it can be weighed. It is also equivalent to mass, and this mass is always associated with it. Mass is also equivalent to a certain amount of energy, and likewise always appears associated with it, as described in mass-energy equivalence. The formula ''E'' = ''mc''², derived by Albert Einstein (1905) quantifies the relationship between rest-mass and rest-energy within the concept of special relativity. In different theoretical frameworks, similar formulas were derived by J. J. Thomson (1881), Henri Poincaré (1900), Friedrich Hasenöhrl (1904) and others (see Mass-energy equivalence#History for further information).

Matter may be destroyed and converted to energy (and vice versa), but mass cannot ever be destroyed; rather, mass remains a constant for both the matter and the energy, during any process when they are converted into each other. However, since $c^2$ is extremely large relative to ordinary human scales, the conversion of ordinary amount of matter (for example, 1 kg) to other forms of energy (such as heat, light, and other radiation) can liberate tremendous amounts of energy (~$9x10^\{16\}$ joules = 21 megatons of TNT), as can be seen in nuclear reactors and nuclear weapons. Conversely, the mass equivalent of a unit of energy is minuscule, which is why a loss of energy (loss of mass) from most systems is difficult to measure by weight, unless the energy loss is very large. Examples of energy transformation into matter (i.e., kinetic energy into particles with rest mass) are found in high-energy nuclear physics.

Transformation of energy into useful work is a core topic of thermodynamics. In nature, transformations of energy can be fundamentally classed into two kinds: those that are thermodynamically reversible, and those that are thermodynamically irreversible. A reversible process in thermodynamics is one in which no energy is dissipated (spread) into empty energy states available in a volume, from which it cannot be recovered into more concentrated forms (fewer quantum states), without degradation of even more energy. A reversible process is one in which this sort of dissipation does not happen. For example, conversion of energy from one type of potential field to another, is reversible, as in the pendulum system described above. In processes where heat is generated, quantum states of lower energy, present as possible excitations in fields between atoms, act as a reservoir for part of the energy, from which it cannot be recovered, in order to be converted with 100% efficiency into other forms of energy. In this case, the energy must partly stay as heat, and cannot be completely recovered as usable energy, except at the price of an increase in some other kind of heat-like increase in disorder in quantum states, in the universe (such as an expansion of matter, or a randomization in a crystal).

As the universe evolves in time, more and more of its energy becomes trapped in irreversible states (i.e., as heat or other kinds of increases in disorder). This has been referred to as the inevitable thermodynamic heat death of the universe. In this heat death the energy of the universe does not change, but the fraction of energy which is available to do produce work through a heat engine, or be transformed to other usable forms of energy (through the use of generators attached to heat engines), grows less and less.

See also

Index of energy articles

Outline of energy

Notes and references

Further reading

External links

Category:Fundamental physics concepts Category:Greek loanwords Category:Introductory physics Category:Physical quantities Category:State functions

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Honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Name	Chris Huhne
honorific-prefix	The Right Honourable
Honorific-suffix	MP
Office	Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change
Primeminister	David Cameron
Term start	12 May 2010
Predecessor	Ed Miliband
Office2	Liberal Democrat Home Affairs Spokesman
Leader2	Nick Clegg
Term start2	20 December 2007
Term end2	12 May 2010
Predecessor2	Nick Clegg
Successor2	Post Abolished
Office3	Liberal Democrat Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Spokesman
Leader3	Menzies Campbell
Term start3	3 March 2006
Term end3	19 December 2007
Predecessor3	Norman Baker
Successor3	Steve Webb
Office4	Liberal Democrat Treasury Chief Secretary Spokesman
Leader4	Charles Kennedy
Term start4	16 May 2005
Term end4	3 March 2006
Predecessor4	David Laws
Successor4	Colin Breed
Office5	Member of Parliament for Eastleigh
Term start5	5 May 2005
Predecessor5	David Chidgey
Majority5	3,864 (7.2%)
Office6	Member of the European Parliament for South East England
Term start6	10 June 1999
Term end6	12 May 2005
Predecessor6	Constituency Created
Successor6	Sharon Bowles
Birth date	July 02, 1954
Birth place	Westminster, London, England
Party	Liberal Democrats
Spouse	Vicky Pryce (sep: June 2010)
Children	3 plus 2 step-daughters
Alma mater	Magdalen College, Oxford
Website	Official website }}

Christopher Murray Paul-Huhne, generally known as Chris Huhne (, born 2 July 1954) is a Liberal Democrat politician and cabinet minister, who is the current Member of Parliament for the Eastleigh constituency in Hampshire. He was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change following the 2010 general election.

He has twice run for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats but was beaten on both occasions. In the 2006 election he came second to Sir Menzies Campbell and in the 2007 election he narrowly lost to Nick Clegg.

Early life

Education and upbringing

Huhne was born in an affluent section of west London to businessman Peter Paul-Huhne and amateur actress, Ann Muray, who had been the voice of the Speaking clock. He was educated at the fee-paying Westminster School. His family name was Paul-Huhne and he was known all through his school years as Christopher Paul-Huhne. At Oxford, he simplified his name to "Chris Huhne".

His education continued at the Sorbonne, where he obtained a certificate in French Language and Civilisation, and Magdalen College, Oxford where he was a scholar (Demy). At Oxford, he edited the student magazine ''Isis'', served on the executive of the Oxford University Labour Club, and achieved a first-class degree in PPE (Philosophy, Politics and Economics). Huhne was active in student politics supporting the Labour Party.

1973 student article

A news story in ''The Sunday Times'' on 21 October 2007 said an article credited to Huhne had appeared in the University of Oxford's ''Isis magazine'' in February 1973 saying that drugs such as opium, LSD, and amphetamines were an “accepted facet of our society”. In response to questions by ''The Times'' about his 1973 pronouncement, Huhne responded “To be honest I don’t have any memory of it,” saying he was entitled to a private life before politics. The issue about the 1973 article continued in the ''Daily Mail'' and ''The Sun''. In an interview published on the Kent News website on 10 November 2007, Huhne said, “I clearly regret the views and I don’t agree with those views at all. I was a teenager and I’m now 53 and I think all of us do tend to move on in life.”

Career before Parliament

Before embarking on his political career, he was a City entrepreneur. He told The Independent in 2008: "I don't claim that I'm in other than a very happy position compared with most people, because, having spent a bit of time in the City before I was elected, being able to make a bit of money while I was there, I have a cushion." He started a company named Sovereign Ratings IBCA in 1994 that tried to "scientifically measure the risks of investing in different countries". In 1997 he became managing director of Fitch IBCA, and from 1999 to 2003 was vice-chairman of Fitch Ratings.

Huhne was an economic commentator for ''The Guardian'', ''The Independent'' and ''The Independent on Sunday. '' He was the business editor of ''The Independent'' and ''The Independent on Sunday'' during its investigations into Robert Maxwell's fraud on the Mirror group pension fund. He started in as an undercover freelance reporter in India during Mrs Gandhi's emergency when western journalists had been expelled. He also worked for the ''Liverpool Daily Post'' and ''Liverpool Echo'' and ''The Economist''. He won both the junior and senior Wincott awards for financial journalist of the year (in 1980 and 1989 respectively).

Parliamentary candidate

Huhne contested the 1983 general election as a Parliamentary Candidate for the SDP–Liberal Alliance in Reading East but came a distant second. and in the 1987 general election, he was the SDP–Liberal Alliance candidate in the Oxford West and Abingdon seat, a seat that would be won ten years later by Liberal Democrat candidate Evan Harris.

Member of European Parliament (1999–2005)

In June 1999 Huhne was elected as a member of the European Parliament for South East England. The Liberal Democrats came third with a total number of 228136 votes behind the Conservatives and Labour. The proportion of votes received meant that the party was able to send the top two list candidates to the European parliament, Emma Nicholson the top list candidate and Chris Huhne, 2nd on the list. During the 2004 European Parliament elections Huhne was re-elected along with Emma Nicholson with the party having received 338,342 votes, 15.3% of the total vote. In 2005 Huhne made the decision to stand for election to the United Kingdom parliament representing the seat of Eastleigh in Hampshire. After winning election to the House of Commons on 5 May 2005, Sharon Bowles the candidate third on the Liberal Democrat list replaced Huhne as representative for the South East of England.

During his time in the European Parliament, Huhne was the only Liberal Democrat MEP in a ranking by ''The Economist'' of the three most high-profile UK MEPs (the others being Glenys Kinnock and Caroline Lucas). He was a member of the Economic and Monetary Affairs Committee, concerned with economic and financial policy including regulation of the financial sector. He was economic spokesman for the pan-European Liberal group in the European Parliament and was responsible for introducing "sunset clauses" – time limits on powers – into European legislation for the first time; for radically amending Commission proposals on financial services; and for opening up the European Central Bank to greater scrutiny.

In addition to his European Parliament responsibilities, he was also active in the development of Liberal Democrat policy as chairman of four policy groups: broadcasting and the media; globalisation; the introduction of the euro and the reform of public services. On public services, he argues that money was a necessary condition of improvement, but that the key is now decentralised and democratic control. Local voters need to be able to hold local decision-takers to account.

Member of Parliament (2005 – present)

Huhne was first elected to represent Eastleigh at the general election on 5 May 2005, a constituency within the area for which he was previously the Member of the European Parliament. The previous MP for the constituency, David Chidgey, was also a Liberal Democrat who won his seat in what was historically a Conservative area in a by-election in 1994 following the death of Stephen Milligan. The result in 2005 was close, with Huhne winning with a majority of just 568 over Conservative rival Conor Burns. In the General Election of 2010 Huhne retained his seat, this time with an increased majority of 3864 over the Conservative's Maria Hutchings.

Treasury spokesman

Following his election to the House of Commons then Liberal Democrat leader Charles Kennedy made Huhne the shadow Chief Secretary to the Treasury for the party. In this role Huhne led the parties debate on the Finance Bill 2005 suggesting that amendments should be made to stop a pensions loophole which would have allowed rich investors to get 40% discount on property and other investments in their pension. In the Pre-budget report for 2006, the Chancellor conceded the change.

Leadership contest, 2006

Huhne stood against Sir Menzies Campbell and Simon Hughes for the Liberal Democrat leadership after Charles Kennedy's resignation, formally launching his campaign on 13 January 2006.

Huhne was able to carve out a unique position on the issue of green taxation – he argued for a radical expansion of taxes on pollution, allowing for reductions in the income tax rate on the lowest paid. This theme endeared Huhne to environmentalists and market liberals alike, allowing him to gain a march on his rivals and pick up supporters as the campaign went on. He also argued for a repeal of elements of the Labour government's anti-terrorism legislation, which many felt had undermined British civil liberties, and for the withdrawal of British troops from Iraq within a year. He described himself as a 'social liberal'.

Although the majority of Liberal Democrat MPs — and much of the party establishment — declared their support for Sir Menzies Campbell, Huhne did receive endorsements from some party notables including Lord Maclennan and Lord Rodgers. Amongst the media, ''The Economist'', ''The Independent'' and ''The Independent on Sunday'' supported his leadership bid. He was backed from an early stage by a number of bloggers, and gained much momentum from a sharp internet campaign.

In the final vote, Huhne finished runner-up, tallying 21,628 votes to Sir Menzies Campbell's 29,697. Campbell appointed him as Liberal Democrat environment spokesman in the subsequent frontbench reshuffle, in order for Huhne to develop a viable programme to expand on his green campaign themes.

During the election campaign a news story in ''The Independent'' on 27 February 2006 reported that an unsigned document entitled "Chris Huhne's Hypocritical Personal Share Portfolio" was being circulated at Lib Dem leadership election meetings. The document alleged that Huhne had invested in companies that the document described as "unethical". The document stated "Chris Huhne is campaigning for the Lib Dem leadership on a green, carbon-neutral platform, and further advocates increasing tax for the wealthy, which would include himself. However, his shareholdings include, or have included, mining companies, oil companies, and tax shelters."

Huhne has spoken of the need to "roll back [Labour's] security-obsessed surveillance state". However, he holds shares – listed on the Register of Members' Interests – in UK company IRISYS, which specialises in producing thermal imagers "for process, people and queue monitoring" and "which sells cameras to let shops count their customers."

Environment spokesman, 2006–2007

The intellectual energy surrounding Huhne's leadership campaign did much to inform the Liberal Democrats' recent political agenda. His proposals for realigning green taxes and income tax – the ''green tax switch'' – were at the heart of the fiscal package endorsed at the party's September 2006 conference.

Huhne has continued developing his party's thoughts on climate change and the environment, including a consideration of the challenges and opportunities they create for British businesses. He has also been prominent in critiquing the divergence between the Conservative Party's recent environmental rhetoric and its policies.

Huhne was one of fourteen MPs forming an all-party parliamentary inquiry into anti-Semitism in the UK. Their report criticised boycotts of Israeli academics as "an assault on academic freedom and intellectual exchange" and accused "some left-wing activists and Muslim extremists [...] of using criticism of Israel as 'a pretext' for spreading hatred against British Jews". Huhne is, however, a critic of Israeli government policy in the Middle East, and strongly supports the creation of a separate Palestinian state. He described the Israeli response in Lebanon to Hezbollah's rocket attacks as disproportionate and counter-productive, arguing that a strong Lebanese state is in Israel's long-term interest.

In March 2007 it was falsely reported that he had written to executives at Channel 4 to try and stop their showing ''The Great Global Warming Swindle''. In an e-mail exchange with Iain Dale, Mr Huhne stated that he only wrote to ask for the channel's comments and ''The Daily Telegraph'' later ran a correction and apologised for the misunderstanding saying they were happy to accept that "Mr Huhne's letter was not an attempt to prevent the film being shown or suppress debate on the issue".

After Liberal Democrat home affairs spokesman, Nick Clegg, announced his intention during the 2007 party conference to stand for the leadership should Sir Menzies Campbell retire, Chris Huhne, when asked about his leadership ambitions said that there was "no vacancy, and it would be premature to even talk about the position of there being a vacancy".

Leadership contest, 2007

Following the resignation of Sir Menzies Campbell on 15 October 2007 Huhne was considered to be one of the strongest contenders for the leadership of the Liberal Democrats. On 17 October, Huhne became the first member of the party to announce his candidacy saying "I've decided to give it a go" and declaring his vision of a "fairer and greener society". Huhne said that he wanted the party to be committed to the idea that "everybody's individual worth and chance is given its full possibility"

On 28 October 2007, Huhne announced that he had secured the support of 10 of his 62 parliamentary colleagues for his formal nomination. His rival Nick Clegg announced the support of 33 MPs. Huhne also claimed backing from at least twelve peers, four MSPs and three Welsh Assembly members. After former Lib Dem leader Lord Ashdown announced his support for Clegg, a previous Lib Dem leader Lord Steel declared his support for Huhne, based in part on Huhne's position on the Trident missile system.

In the last week of campaigning his team were bullish about his chances, predicting a win. Following the final count the party membership chose his rival Nick Clegg by a narrow margin of 511 votes out of more than 41,000 counted.

About 1,300 postal votes were caught up in the Christmas post and missed the election deadline. An unofficial check of the late papers showed Huhne had enough votes among them to hand him victory. Huhne stood by the result, saying "Nick Clegg won fair and square on the rules counting the ballot papers that arrived in by the deadline. There is no question of any re-run." Following the leadership election, Clegg chose Huhne to be the Lib Dem's Home Affairs Spokesman.

Election conduct

During the leadership election, Nick Clegg registered a formal complaint about Huhne's conduct to Lord Rennard, the party's Chief Whip and returning officer. Clegg stated that his rival was indulging in "the politics of innuendo, mounting false challenges and running a campaign that is handing political ammunition to the party's political opponents". Huhne and Clegg were debating on live television on BBC's ''The Politics Show'' on Sunday 18 November 2007 when the presenter Jon Sopel produced a briefing document that had been specially delivered to the show's production team by the Huhne campaign team on the preceding Friday. The document excoriated Clegg on a number of policy and political issues and was titled "Calamity Clegg". When challenged about the document issued by his office, Huhne claimed that he had no knowledge of it and said he did not agree with the document title but agreed with the points within it. When challenged how it was possible that he had no knowledge of such a major document sent to the producer of the show he was due to appear on, Huhne replied "It's quite impossible to check everything that goes out of the office... But I can assure you that's not had my authorization." After Clegg complained about what he called "dirty tricks" and other senior party members condemned the Huhne campaign attack, Huhne's Campaign Manager Anna Werrin claimed that the title of the memo was just the product of an "over-zealous researcher" and had not been seen or approved by Huhne or any senior campaign officials prior to release. "The document title had not been approved before the document was sent out and neither Chris nor I were aware of it."

Speaking to the Independent on 21 November 2007 Huhne claimed ""Unfortunately it was a mixture of responsibilities. It was an over-zealous young researcher who was responsible for drawing up the document." The researcher was not on his staff, he said, denying that, as a former journalist he might have been expected to read what was put out in his name before it was put out. However, in June 2010, after Huhne's long-running affair with his full-time press agent Carina Trimingham was uncovered, the Guardian and the Daily Mail revealed that the "Calamity Clegg" dossier had actually been created and circulated by Trimingham who at that time was 41 years old, "one of Mr. Huhne's closest aides" and his official, on-staff press manager for the leadership campaign – reporting directly to Huhne.

Home Affairs spokesman, 2007–2010

In October 2008, Huhne led the Liberal-Democrat response to the government's announcement of plans to expand the capacity to collect records of people using electronic communications. The Home Secretary's announcement was in response to warnings by police and the security services that the growing fragmentation and complexity of communications was hindering their tackling of terrorism and organised criminality. But Huhne disagreed with the government's response to the police and security services, saying: "The Government’s Orwellian plans for a vast database of our private communications are deeply worrying. I hope that this consultation is not just a sham exercise to soft-soap an unsuspecting public.”

In January 2009, Huhne was credited with uncovering an incidence of data loss of government information caused by a courier company losing a computer disc containing bank details of up to 2,000 public servants working for the British Council. Huhne blamed the Foreign Secretary David Milliband and the government for the courier company's loss and said that the incident was an example of why the UK should not have Identity Cards: “This is another instance in a long line of slapdash data protection by government departments. If Whitehall cannot look after its own data records it should not be trusted with the personal information of every citizen as it wants with the identity card scheme.”

On 6 November 2007, Huhne made remarks about the Speaker of the House of Commons on the BBC television programme ''Newsnight'' in which he claimed that the Speaker, Michael Martin, had fallen asleep during a speech by the Prime Minister Gordon Brown. "The Speaker unfortunately fell asleep during Gordon Brown's speech ... I'm not sure I'm allowed to say that, but he reacted in an entirely understandable way to what was not the most riveting of parliamentary occasions." After the remarks were repeated in several publications, Huhne made a public apology to the Speaker in the House Of Commons on 8 November in which he withdrew his prior comments. “It was wrong of me to draw the Chair into a matter of political dispute. I hope you will accept I intended no personal offence and fully withdraw my comments.”

Controversy

Huhne was an avid supporter of Professor David Nutt after he was dismissed by Home Secretary Alan Johnson as chairman of the Advisory Council on the Misuse of Drugs (ACMD) in November 2009. Nutt had criticised the government's decision to reclassify cannabis as a Class B drug rather than keeping it as a class C. Huhne said the decision to sack Nutt was "disgraceful" and commented "what is the point of having independent scientific advice if as soon as you get some advice that you don't like, you sack the person who has given it to you?." Attacking the government he said that if they did not want to take expert scientific advice they might as well have a "committee of tabloid newspaper editors to advise on drugs policy". Cannabis had been re-classified as a class C drug in 2004 by then Home Secretary David Blunkett only for Jacqui Smith to reverse the ruling in 2008, a decision taken despite official advisers recommending against the change.

As part of the ''Daily Telegraph'' investigation into expense claims by MPs, Huhne was reported to have claimed for various items including groceries, fluffy dusters and a trouser press. In 2006, he claimed £5,066 for painting work on his garden fences and chairs. He collected £119 for a mahogany Corby trouser press from John Lewis but later said he would repay the cost in order "to avoid controversy". He later claimed on a live Channel 4 news programme that he needed the trouser press to "look smart" for work. In June 2010, it was revealed that in the second half of 2009, a period after the expenses scandal news story became known, Huhne claimed £14,948 in expenses, including some minor amounts such as a 14p bill for stationery. The claim also included costs incurred in servicing an old boiler at his constituency home. Huhnes office running costs during the 2007/2008 financial year were the 206th highest, out of 645, his second home claims were 580th highest (or 65th cheapest) out of 645, his total expense claims were below average, ranking 418th most expensive.

Coalition Government (2010 – present)

Following the 2010 general election, Huhne formed part of the Liberal Democrats key negotiating team alongside Danny Alexander, David Laws and Andrew Stunell that brokered the agreement to go into a governing coalition with the Conservatives. Following the negotiations and the formation of a full coaltion Huhne was appointed Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change, the tenth most senior minister in the new government. There had been some speculation that Huhne might be appointed as Home Secretary as he had been the Liberal Democrat spokesman for Home Affairs in the preceding three years although this post went to the Conservative Theresa May. He was appointed as a Privy Counsellor on 13 May 2010.

Secretary of State for Energy and Climate Change

A noted and vocal environmentalist, Huhne accepted the role of Secretary of State with the stated intention of making the nation more ecologically conscious. Among his first actions was launching National Wind Week by speaking at an event in London's Leicester Square on 15 June 2010. Underscoring his personal commitment to wind, Huhne has erected a wind turbine rising 8 feet above the roof of his constituency home in Eastleigh where he spends his weekends.

Position on nuclear energy

In government, Huhne has maintained a flexible approach on the subject of nuclear energy advocating the three-pronged ''portfolio'' approach to energy: a commitment to nuclear energy; the development of more renewable energy, such as wind and sea power; and new carbon-capture technology to mitigate the damaging environmental effects of fossil fuel-fired power plants and industrial facilities. In an interview with the Observer in March 2011 after the Fukushima disaster in Japan, Huhne stated that "there are a lot of issues outside of the realm of nuclear safety, which we will have to assess. One is what the economics of nuclear power post-Fukushima will be, if there is an increase in the cost in capital to nuclear operators." This represents an evolution of his approach to the nuclear issue. In 2007, Huhne was quoted as saying "Nuclear is a tried, tested and failed technology and the government must stop putting time, effort and subsidies into this outdated industry."

Cancellation of Sheffield Forgemasters loan

In June 2010, Huhne cancelled an £80 million loan to Sheffield Forgemasters to build power plant components that had been pledged by the preceding Labour government. Though attacked by Labour Shadow energy secretary Ed Milliband who said that the money for the loan had been set aside and would have resulted in at least £110 million returning to the Exchequer. On 1 July 2010, Huhne replied to Milliband saying "The loan to Sheffield Forgemasters was not a commercial loan. If it was a commercial loan it would have been arranged through the banks and not by the government. It was precisely because of the public subsidy element, and the fact that the public subsidy element was not affordable, that the government decided not to proceed with it." The cancellation of the loan was one of a number of projects agreed by the previous Labour government cancelled in an announcement to the House of Commons on 17 June 2010.

Cancun climate change conference

On 9 December 2010, Huhne represented the United Kingdom at the 2010 United Nations Climate Change Conference. The gathering, at which over 190 countries were represented, announced a deal to curb climate change which Prime Minister David Cameron described as a "very significant step forward." The agreement struck in Mexico included a recognition that deeper cuts in carbon emissions were needed and that a fund should be set up in order to help developing countries reduce their carbon emissions. Huhne described the deal as a "serious package" of measures but acknowledged that there was still more work to do prior to the next climate change meeting in Durban, South Africa, the following year. Following the conference David Cameron said that his government would be the "greenest ever" and said that Britain would meet its international obligations regarding climate change. Due to his attending the conference, Huhne was one of 8 Liberal Democrat MPs to abstain from the vote on Government proposals to increase university tuition fees. The vote had been particularly controversial for Liberal Democrats as many of the parties MPs had, prior to the election, signed an NUS pledge promising to vote against tuition fee increases. For the government, the controversial nature of the vote meant that, at one stage, it was considered that Huhne would have to return home from the conference in order to vote with the Government. Speaking about the possibility of the UK's minister potentially leaving the conference to attend a domestic vote Greenpeace Uk director John Sauven said to the BBC that Huhnes presence was vital adding "with the outcome of the Cancun summit now hanging in the balance, attention must now focus on whether he can help to broker a climate deal". Conservative minister Greg Barker, also at the summit, did however return for the vote.

Support for AV referendum campaign

Huhne was an enthusiastic supporter of the AV campaign and attacked anti-AV campaigners such as his cabinet colleague, Conservative Party chairman Baroness Warsi. "If Baroness Warsi thinks that AV will benefit fascism she has to explain why the BNP wants to stick with what we have and Operation Black Vote supports AV. The BNP know the present system is their only chance of election. This is another example of the increasingly Goebbels-like campaign from the anti-AV people, for whom no lie is too idiotic given the truth is so unpalatable to them. AV makes lazy MPs work harder and reach out beyond their tribe. It is what Britain needs to clean up politics."

Personal life

Huhne married a Greek-born economist Vicky Pryce (formerly Chief Economist in the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) in 1984 shortly after she divorced her first husband, with whom she had two young daughters. Huhne and Pryce had three children together. In a video statement made during the 2007 Liberal Democrats leadership election campaign, Huhne described his philosophy about family life: "Relationships, including particularly family relationships, are actually the most important things in making people happy and fulfilled". Talking about his wife to ''The Independent'' in 2008 he stated: "I also have a very hard-working and extremely intelligent wife, who manages to earn far more than I do." An election flyer distributed in his Eastleigh constituency prior to the May 2010 general election included several photographs of himself with his family members, each image accompanied by a hand-written caption.

In June 2010, after being observed and photographed spending a night in his constituency home with a woman other than his wife, Huhne admitted that he had been involved in an extra-marital sexual relationship with a woman named Carina Trimingham and stated that he had decided to leave his wife of 26 years to be with her. Huhne's wife and children were completely unaware of his infidelity and his plans to leave his wife for another woman. Within one week of Huhne's declaration, Pryce filed for divorce on the grounds of Huhne's "admitted adultery". A statement issued on her behalf by London-based solicitors Osbornes said: "The events of the past week have come as a tremendous shock to both Miss Pryce and her family." Trimingham had worked on Huhne's campaigns for the Liberal Democrat leadership in 2006 and 2007 - and was also a paid staff member on his 2010 General Election campaign. She was press officer for another Liberal Democrat politician Brian Paddick during the 2008 Mayor of London election, and is now campaigns director at the Electoral Reform Society. Huhne was defended by Cabinet Office minister Francis Maude who opined: “What goes on in people’s private lives is a subject that fascinates the tabloid press but is irrelevant to the job they are trying to do.”

Huhne owns seven houses—five that he purchased just as investments and that he makes money on as rental properties and two in which he lives. (One in Eastleigh, his constituency, and a town house in Clapham, south London). His wealth is estimated as £3.5 million.

Personal Interests

"Electoral reform" is among the personal interests that Huhne cites on his biography on the official Liberal Democrats website. He describes his other interests as "European single currency, economics, third world debt and development, Europe."

Huhne is a member of the European Movement, Green Lib Dems, Association of Liberal Democrat Trade Unionists and the National Union of Journalists.

Traffic conviction

Huhne was convicted in 2003 under the Road Traffic Act 1988 of using a mobile phone while driving his car on a busy London street. Following his conviction, he was banned from driving for three months.

Penalty points allegations

In May 2011 Huhne's estranged wife stated that Huhne had "pressurised people to take his driving licence penalty points" on his behalf. Huhne denied the allegations. After Huhne was reported to the police, Essex police said: "We take allegations such as this one extremely seriously and will take action where necessary." On 10 June 2011 it emerged that Essex Police had sent 'initial papers' to the Crown Prosecution Service regarding the allegations and it was also revealed that Huhne had exercised his right to remain silent in response to a series of police questions in May.On 25 June 2011 Essex Police stated that they had obtained a court order to take possession of a recording from the Sunday Times in which the ex-couple apparently discuss the case. On 22 July it emerged that Huhne had once again been interviewed by police concerning the allegations and on 28 July the police handed the file to prosecutors.

In May 2011 a YouGov poll revealed that almost half of Brits thought that Huhne should resign over the investigation.

Publications and writing interests

Prior to his careers as a financial journalist, analyst and politician, Huhne wrote four books that are mainly on the themes either of third-world debt and development or European integration: the latest is entitled ''Both Sides of the Coin'' (1999, with James Forder), in which he argues the case for British membership of the euro. The first was ''Debt and Danger'' (Penguin Special, 1985), an analysis of the 1984 third world debt crisis co-written with Lord Lever of Manchester, the former Labour cabinet minister.

He was a contributor to the ''Orange Book'' (2004), in which he advocates reforms to the United Nations and international governance. Huhne was critical of the most controversial article in the Orange Book, in which David Laws proposed an insurance-based National Health Service. He did not take part in the successor volume, ''Britain after Blair'' and has voiced dismay at the way its predecessor was presented as a break with the party's social liberal traditions. More recently, he contributed to the book ''The City in Europe and the World'' (2005) and two articles to ''Reinventing the State'' (2007) edited by Duncan Brack, Richard Grayson and David Howarth. These cover the case for localism in which Huhne argues that there is no contradiction between localism and equality, and the need for environmental policy to tackle climate change.

Huhne has also written articles for the ''Financial Times'', ''The Guardian'', ''The Independent'' and the ''New Statesman''.

References

External links

Chris Huhne MP ''official constituency website''

Eastleigh Liberal Democrats

Profile at the Liberal Democrats Party

Profile: Chris Huhne, ''BBC News'', 2 March 2006

Profile: Chris Huhne, ''BBC News'', 19 December 2007

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de:Chris Huhne fr:Chris Huhne la:Christophorus Huhne pl:Chris Huhne ro:Christopher Huhne ru:Хьюн, Крис simple:Chris Huhne fi:Chris Huhne

name	Wilhelm Reich
alt	photograph
birth date	March 24, 1897
birth place	Dobrzanica, Galicia
death date	November 03, 1957
death place	Lewisburg, PA
death cause	Heart failure
resting place	Orgonon, Rangeley, Maine
resting place coordinates
nationality	Austrian-American
alma mater	University of Vienna
known for	Freudo-Marxism, body psychotherapy, orgone
influences	Max Stirner, Sigmund Freud, Karl Marx
influenced	Saul Bellow, William Burroughs, Gilles Deleuze, Paul Edwards, Arthur Janov, Paul Goodman, Alexander Lowen, Norman Mailer, A.S. Neill, Fritz Perls, Robert Anton Wilson
occupation	Psychoanalyst
spouse	Annie Pink, Ilse Ollendorf
partner	Elsa Lindenburg
children	Eva (1924), Lore (1928), Peter (1944)
parents	Leon Reich and Cecilia Roniger
relations	Robert (brother)
website	Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust }}

Wilhelm Reich (March 24, 1897 – November 3, 1957) was an Austrian-American psychiatrist and psychoanalyst, known as one of the most radical figures in the history of psychiatry. He was the author of several notable books, including ''The Mass Psychology of Fascism'' and ''Character Analysis'', both published in 1933.

Reich worked with Sigmund Freud in the 1920s and was a respected analyst for much of his life, focusing on character structure rather than on individual neurotic symptoms. He tried to reconcile Marxism and psychoanalysis, arguing that neurosis is rooted in the physical, sexual, economic, and social conditions of the patient, and promoted adolescent sexuality, the availability of contraceptives, abortion, and divorce, and the importance for women of economic independence. His work influenced a generation of intellectuals, including Saul Bellow, William S. Burroughs, Paul Edwards, Norman Mailer, A.S. Neill, and Robert Anton Wilson, and shaped innovations such as Fritz Perls's Gestalt therapy, Alexander Lowen's bioenergetic analysis, and Arthur Janov's primal therapy.

Later in life he became a controversial figure who was both adored and condemned. He began to violate some of the key taboos of psychoanalysis, using touch during sessions, and treating patients in their underwear to improve their "orgastic potency". He said he had discovered a primordial cosmic energy, which he said others called God and that he called "orgone". He built orgone energy accumulators that his patients sat inside to harness the reputed health benefits, leading to newspaper stories about sex boxes that cured cancer.

Reich was living in Germany when Adolf Hitler came to power in January 1933. On March 2 that year the Nazi newspaper ''Völkischer Beobachter'' published an attack on one of Reich's pamphlets, ''The Sexual Struggle of Youth''. He left immediately for Vienna, then Scandinavia, moving to the United States in 1939. In 1947, following a series of articles about orgone in ''The New Republic'' and ''Harper's'', the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) obtained an injunction against the interstate sale of orgone accumulators. Charged with contempt for violating it, Reich conducted his own defense, which involved requesting the judge to read all his books and arguing that a court was no place to decide matters of science. He was sentenced to two years in prison, and in August 1956 several tons of his publications were burned by the FDA - a notable example of censorship in U.S. history. He died in jail of heart failure just over a year later, days before he was due to apply for parole.

Early life

Childhood

Reich was born the first of two sons to Leon Reich, a prosperous farmer, and Cecilia Roniger, in Dobrzanica, a village in Galicia, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. His father was by all accounts strict, cold, and jealous. He was Jewish, but Reich was later at pains to point out that his father had moved away from Judaism and had not raised his children as Jews; Reich wasn't even allowed to play with Yiddish-speaking children. As an adult, Reich corrected anyone who referred to him as a Jew. His biographer, Myron Sharaf, writes that this was in part because of his rejection of what he called "Jewish chauvinism," in part because he disliked being forced into any position he had not chosen for himself, and in part because he never wanted to be an outsider.

Shortly after his birth, the family moved south to a farm in Jujinetz, near Chernivtsi, Bukovina, where Reich's father took control of a cattle farm owned by his mother's uncle, Josef Blum. Reich attributed his later interest in the study of sex and the biological basis of the emotions to his upbringing on the farm where, as he later put it, the natural life functions were never hidden from him. He also spoke of having witnessed the family maid having intercourse with her boyfriend, and asking her later if he could "play" the part of the lover. He said that, by the time he was four years old, there were no secrets about sex for him; in his early memoirs, ''Passion of Youth'', he writes that he had intercourse for the first time at the age of 11½, though elsewhere said that he was 13.

He was taught at home until he was 12, when his mother committed suicide after she was discovered having an affair with Reich's tutor, who lived with the family. Her death was particularly brutal: she drank a common household cleaner, which left her in great pain for days before she died.

Reich wrote in 1920 about how deeply his mother's affair had affected him. Night after night he followed her as she crept to the tutor's bedroom. He stood outside listening, feeling ashamed, angry, and jealous. He wondered if they would kill him if they found out, and briefly thought of forcing her to have sex with him too. Torn between wanting to protect her, but also to tell his father, he later blamed himself for her death, waking in the night overwhelmed by the thought that he had killed her. The tutor was sent away, leaving Reich without a mother or a teacher, and with a powerful sense of guilt.

Education

He was sent to the all-male Czernowitz gymnasium, excelling at Latin, Greek, and the natural sciences. It appears to have been during this period that a skin condition developed that plagued him for the rest of his life. When it began is unclear, but it was diagnosed as psoriasis; Sharaf speculates that it may have been triggered by his mother's suicide. He was given medication that contained arsenic, now known to make psoriasis worse.

His father was devastated by his wife's suicide. In or around 1914, he took out a life insurance policy, then stood for hours in a cold pond, apparently fishing, but in fact intending to commit slow suicide, according to Reich and his brother, Robert. He contracted pneumonia and tuberculosis, and died in 1914. Despite the insurance policy, no money was forthcoming. Reich managed the farm and continued with his studies, graduating in 1915 ''mit Stimmeneinhelligkeit'' (unanimous approval). In the summer of that year, the Russians invaded Bukovina and the Reich brothers fled to Vienna, losing everything. In his ''Passion of Youth'', Reich wrote: "I never saw either my homeland or my possessions again. Of a well-to-do past, nothing was left."

Reich joined the Austrian Army after school, serving from 1915–18, for the last two years as a lieutenant. When the war ended in 1918, he entered the medical school at the University of Vienna. As an undergraduate, he was drawn to the work of Sigmund Freud. The men first met in 1919 when Reich visited Freud to obtain literature for a seminar on sexology, Freud making a strong impression on him. He became one of Freud's favorite students. Freud allowed him to start seeing analytic patients in 1920, when Reich was accepted as a guest member of the Vienna Psychoanalytic Association, becoming a regular member in October that year at the age of 23. He was allowed to complete his six-year medical degree in four years because he was a war veteran, and received his M.D. in July 1922.

Early career and first marriage

Reich worked in internal medicine at University Hospital, Vienna, and studied neuropsychiatry from 1922-24 at the Neurological and Psychiatric Clinic under Professor Julius Wagner-Jauregg. In 1922, he set up private practice as a psychoanalyst, and became a clinical assistant, and later deputy director of Freud's Psychoanalytic Polyclinic. He joined the faculty of the Psychoanalytic Institute in Vienna in 1924, conducted research into the social causes of neurosis, and became Deputy Director of Training. It was in Vienna that he met Annie Pink, a medical student who came to him for analysis, and who later became an analyst herself. They married on March 17, 1922, when she was 20 and Reich one week short of 25, with Otto Fenichel as a witness. The marriage produced two daughters, Eva in 1924 and Lore in 1928. They moved to Berlin in 1930, where he set up clinics in working-class areas, taught sex education, and published pamphlets. He joined the Communist Party of Germany, and his book, ''The Sexual Revolution'', was published in Vienna, but he became too outspoken for the communists, and was expelled from the German party in 1933 and a year later from its Danish counterpart. He was also expelled from the International Psychoanalytical Association in 1934 for political militancy.

Reich had several affairs during his marriage, including one with his wife's friend, Lia Lasky, in 1927. He and his wife finally separated in 1933 after he began a serious relationship in May 1932 with Elsa Lindenburg, a choreographer and dance therapist, trained in Laban movement analysis, and a pupil of Elsa Gindler. He and Lindenburg were living in Germany when Hitler became Chancellor in January 1933. On March 2, the Nazi newspaper ''Völkischer Beobachter'' published an attack on Reich's ''Der Sexuale Kampf der Jugend'' (''The Sexual Struggle of Youth''). He was derided as a womanizer, a communist, and a Jew who advocated free love. He and Lindenburg left for Vienna the next day. They moved to Scandinavia, first to Denmark where Reich was accused of corrupting Danish youth with German sexology, then to Sweden, and in the fall of 1934 to Norway.

1934–1939: Oslo

Vegetotherapy and the orgasm

Reich stayed in Norway for five years, working under the auspices of Professor Schjelderup of the Psychological Institute at the University of Oslo. He first presented the principles of his vegetotherapy in a paper called "Psychic contact and vegetative current" in August 1934 at the 13th International Congress of Psychoanalysis at Lucerne, Switzerland, and went on to develop the technique between 1935 and 1940. Vegetotherapy involves the patient physically simulating the effects of certain emotions in the hope of triggering them. Reich argued that the ability to feel sexual love depended on a physical ability to have sexual intercourse with what he called "orgastic potency". He tried to measure the male orgasm, noting that four distinct phases occurred physiologically: first, the psycho-sexual buildup or tension; second, the tumescence of the penis, with an accompanying electrical charge that Reich measured; third, an electrical discharge at the moment of orgasm; and fourth, the relaxation of the penis. He believed the force that he measured was a distinct type of energy present in all life forms.

He was a prolific writer for psychoanalytic journals in Europe. Originally, psychoanalysis was focused on the treatment of neurotic symptoms. Reich's ''Character Analysis'' was a major step in the development of what today is called ego psychology. In Reich's view, a person's entire character, not only individual symptoms, could be looked at and treated as a neurotic phenomenon. The book also introduced his theory of body armoring. Reich argued that unreleased psycho-sexual energy could produce actual physical blocks within muscles and organs, and that these blocks act as a body armor preventing the release of the energy. An orgasm was one way to break through the armor. These ideas developed into a general theory of the importance of a healthy sex life to overall well-being, a theory compatible with Freud's views. His idea was that the orgasm was not simply a device to aid procreation, but was the body's emotional energy regulator. The better the orgasm, the more energy was released, meaning that less was available to create neurotic states. Reich called the ability to release sufficient energy during orgasm "orgastic potency," something that very few individuals could achieve, he argued, because of society's sexual oppression. A man or woman without orgastic potency was in a constant state of tension, developing a body armor to keep it in. The outer rigidity and inner anxiety is the state of neurosis, leading to hate, sadism, greed, fascism and antisemitism.

He agreed with Freud that sexual development was the origin of mental illness. They both believed that most psychological states were dictated by unconscious processes, that infant sexuality develops early but is repressed, and that this repression has important consequences for mental health. At that time a Marxist (see Freudo-Marxism), Reich argued that the source of sexual repression was bourgeois morality and the socio-economic structures that produced it. As sexual repression was the cause of the neuroses, the best cure was an active, guilt-free sex life. He argued that such a liberation could come about only through a morality not imposed by a repressive economic structure. In 1928, he joined the Austrian Communist Party and founded the ''Socialist Association for Sexual Counseling and Research'', which organized counseling centers for workers.

Bion experiments

From 1934-39, Reich conducted experiments looking at vegetative energy in the body, especially the Galvanic skin response, which became research into the origins of life. These he called the "Bion Experiments". He examined protozoa, single-celled creatures with nuclei. He grew cultured vesicles using grass, sand, iron, and animal tissue, boiling them, and adding potassium and gelatin. Having heated the materials to incandescence with a heat-torch, he noted bright, glowing, blue vesicles, which, he said, could be cultured, and which gave off an observable radiant energy. He named the vesicles "bions" and believed they were a rudimentary form of life, halfway between life and non-life. When he poured the cooled mixture onto growth media, bacteria were born, he said, dismissing the idea that the bacteria were already present in the air or on other materials.

T-bacilli

In 1936, Reich wrote that "[s]ince everything is antithetically arranged, there must be two different types of single-celled organisms: (a) life-destroying organisms or organisms that form through organic decay, (b) life-promoting organisms that form from inorganic material that comes to life." This idea of spontaneous generation led him to believe he had found the cause of cancer. He called the life-destroying organisms "T-bacilli," with the T standing for ''Tot'', German for death. He described in ''The Cancer Biopathy'' how he had found them in a culture of rotting cancerous tissue obtained from a local hospital. He wrote that T-bacilli were formed from the disintegration of protein; they were 0.2 to 0.5 micrometer in length, shaped like lancets, and when injected into mice, they caused inflammation and cancer. He concluded that, when orgone energy diminishes in cells through aging or injury, the cells undergo "bionous degeneration," or death. At some point, the deadly T-bacilli start to form in the cells. Death from cancer, he believed, was caused by an overwhelming growth of the T-bacilli.

Nudity and touch during sessions

From 1930 onwards, Reich became more interested in his patients' physical responses during therapy sessions, and toward the late 1930s, he began to treat patients outside the limits of psychoanalysis' restrictions, though well within the scope of general medicine. He began to sit next to his patients, rather than behind them, in order to make stronger 'contact'. He started touching them, to both increase awareness of tension and contraction and to relieve it directly. He would ask his male patients to undress down to their shorts, and sometimes to undress entirely, and his female patients down to their underclothes. He began talking to them, answering their questions, rather than the stock, "Why do you ask?" analyst's response.

From a psychoanalytic point of view, this undermined the position of neutrality. The analyst is meant to be a blank screen onto which the patient projects his old desires, loves, hates, and neurosis - a process known as transference. Reich wrote that the psychoanalytic taboos reinforced the neurotic taboos of the patient. He slowly broke away from them, writing that he wanted his patients to see him as human. He would press hard on their "body armor", his thumb or the palm of his hand pressing on their jaws, necks, chests, backs, or thighs, aiming to dissolve their muscular, and thereby characterological, rigidity. He wanted to see their movements soften, their breathing ease. This dissolution of the "body armor" also brought back the repressed memory of the childhood situation that had caused the repression, he wrote. If the session worked as intended, he wrote that he could see waves of pleasure move through their bodies, a series of spontaneous, involuntary movements. Reich called these the "orgasm reflex". The two goals of Reichian therapy became the attainment of this orgasm reflex during therapy, and orgastic potency during intercourse. Reich called the flow of energy that he said he observed in his patients' bodies "bio-electricity" and considered calling his therapy "orgasmotherapy" but thought better of it for political reasons.

Opposition to his ideas

Scientists in Oslo reacted strongly to his work on bions, deriding it as nonsense. ''Tidens Tegn'', a leading liberal newspaper, launched a campaign against him in 1937, supported by scientists and other newspapers. Between September 1937 and the fall of 1938, over 100 articles denouncing him appeared in the main Oslo newspapers.

In 1937, Leiv Kreyberg, the country's top cancer specialist, was allowed to examine one of Reich's bion preparations under the microscope. Kreyberg wrote that the broth Reich had used as his culture medium was indeed sterile, but that the bacteria were ordinary staphylococci. He concluded that Reich's control measures to prevent infection from airborne bacteria were not as foolproof as Reich believed. Kreyberg accused Reich of being ignorant of basic bacteriological and anatomical facts, while Reich accused Kreyberg of having failed to recognize living cancer cells under magnification. Thus, Sharaf writes, an opportunity for scientific exchange degenerated into name-calling.

Reich sent a sample of the bacteria to another Norwegian biologist, Professor Thjötta of the Oslo Bacteriological Institute, who also said they resulted from air infection. Kreyberg and Thjötta had their views published in ''Aftenposten'' on April 19 and 21, 1938, Krayberg referring to him as "Mr. Reich," alleging that Reich knew less about bacteria and anatomy than a first-year medical student. When Reich requested a detailed control study, Kreyberg responded that his work did not merit it.

Reich's ''The Bion Experiments on the Origin of Life'' was published in 1938, leading to attacks by the scientific and lay press that he was a "Jew pornographer," who was daring to meddle with the origins of life. Alan Cantwell writes that Reich's detractors focused on one paragraph in which Reich wrote that his research had "proved particularly fruitful for an understanding of cancer," which led to the claim that he was promoting a quack cancer cure.

By February 1938, his visa had expired. Several Norwegian scientists argued against an extension, Kreyberg saying, "If it is a question of handing Dr. Reich over to the Gestapo, then I will fight that, but if one could get rid of him in a decent manner, that would be the best." The writer Sigurd Hoel wondered when it had become a crime to perform amateurish biological experiments. "When did it become a reason for deportation that one looked in a microscope when one was not a trained biologist?" Reich received influential support from overseas, first from Bronisław Malinowski, who wrote to the Norwegian press in March 1938 that Reich's sociological work was a "distinct and valuable contribution to science," and from A.S. Neill, founder of Summerhill in England, a progressive school known throughout the world. Neill also wrote to the Norwegian press, arguing that "the campaign against Reich seems largely ignorant and uncivilized, more like fascism than democracy ..." Norway was proud of its intellectual tolerance, so the "Reich affair" put the government on the spot. A compromise was therefore found. Reich was given his visa, but a royal decree was issued stipulating that anyone wanting to practice psychoanalysis needed a licence, and it was widely understood that Reich would not be given one. Throughout the affair, Reich issued just one public statement, when he asked for a commission to replicate his bion experiments. Sharaf writes that the scientific opposition to his work affected his personality and relationships. He was angered and humiliated by the notoriety he had inadvertently achieved. His self-confidence undermined, he felt like a marked man, hunted and tormented, no longer comfortable in public, and seething with bitterness against the researchers who had denounced him.

Personal life

Sharaf writes that, at a personal level, 1934–1937 was the happiest period of Reich's life. His relationship with Elsa Lindenberg was good and he considered marrying her. When she became pregnant in 1935, they were initially overjoyed, buying clothes and furniture for the child, but doubts developed for Reich, who felt the future was too unsettled. Sharaf writes that, to Elsa's great distress, Reich insisted on an abortion, at that time illegal. They went to Berlin, where Edith Jacobson, a psychoanalyst, helped to arrange it.

In 1937, Reich began an affair with a female patient, an actress who was the ex-wife of a colleague. She had entered therapy with the explicit intention of seducing him, which he told her was impossible, but she succeeded. The analysis stopped because of the relationship, then the relationship ended and the analysis began again. She eventually threatened to go to the press, but was persuaded that it would harm her at least as much as him. When a colleague asked him why he had behaved this way, he replied, "A man must do foolish things sometimes." He also had an affair with Gerd Bergersen, a 25-year-old Norwegian textile designer.

During the same period, as the newspaper campaign against him gained pace, he suddenly developed intense jealousy toward Elsa, demanding that she share his work with him, and not have a separate life of any kind. He even physically assaulted a composer she was working with on some choreography. Elsa briefly considered calling the police but decided Reich couldn't afford another scandal. His behavior took its toll on their relationship, and when Reich asked her to accompany him to the U.S., she said no, writing later that it was the hardest "no" she had ever had to say.

1939: Move to the U.S.

Teaching; meeting his second wife

In March 1938, Hitler annexed Austria. Reich's ex-wife and daughters had already left Austria for the U.S. Later that year, an American psychiatrist at Columbia Medical School, Theodore P. Wolfe, traveled to Norway to study under Reich. Wolfe offered to help Reich settle in the U.S., and managed to arrange an official invitation from The New School in New York. Wolfe and Walter Briehl, an old student of Reich's, put up several thousand dollars to guarantee Reich's salary. Wolfe also pulled strings with Adolph Berle, an official in the U.S. State Department. He finally received his visa in August 1939, and sailed out of Norway on August 19 on the ''Stavenger Fjord'', the last boat to leave for the States before the war began on September 3.

He began teaching at The New School, where he remained for two years, living first at 75-02 Kessel Street, Forest Hills, Queens, then settling into a two-story brick house at 9906 69th Avenue in the same area. It had a basement that he used for animal experiments, a large room on the first floor that served as an office, dining room, living room, and a place for his seminar students every other week. The dining room became his laboratory. Two bedrooms on the top floor were shared by his maid and his secretary, Gertrud Gaasland, and three rooms on the second floor became Reich's bedroom and therapy rooms.

It was Gertrud Gaasland who introduced him to Ilse Ollendorf, 29 years old at the time. Reich was still in love with Elsa, but Ilse threw herself into organizing Reich's life for him, taking over the secretarial and bookkeeping tasks, learning laboratory techniques, and showing herself willing to mold herself completely to his lifestyle, something Elsa had been unwilling to do. They began living together on Christmas Day 1939, and she began to work for him on January 2, 1940. They had a son, Peter, in 1944, and were married in 1946.

Reich's personality changed after the onslaught of the press in Oslo. He became socially isolated, and decided to keep his distance even from old friends and his ex-wife. He told a friend he was going to follow the "remarkable law": be distant, even a little haughty, withhold love, and then people will respect you. His students in the U.S. came to know him as a man that no colleague, no matter how close, called by his first name. He wrote to Elsa in January 1940 breaking off their relationship once and for all, telling her that he was in despair, and that he believed he would end up dying like a dog.

Allegations of mental illness

Rumors had been rife since the late 1920s that he was mentally ill in some way, and had even been hospitalized, though Sharaf writes that he had not. He was seen as paranoid, remote, belligerent, and fanatical. Sharaf writes that psychoanalysts have had a tendency to dismiss as ill anyone from within the fold who has digressed, and that never was this done so relentlessly or destructively as with Reich. His work was split into the pre-psychotic "good" Reich, and the post-psychotic "bad," the date of the illness's onset depending on which parts of his work a speaker disliked. Psychoanalysts wanted to see him as sane in the 1920s because of his solid work on character; political radicals regarded him as sane during the 1930s because of his Marxist-oriented psychology research.

Orgonomy

Freud had argued for the existence of a sexual energy which he called "libido", which he initially described as "something which is capable of increase, decrease, displacement and discharge, and which extends itself over the memory traces of an idea like an electric charge over the surface of the body". But by 1925 Freud had rejected the idea that the libido represented a physical energy. Reich took the idea further, arguing that he had discovered a primordial cosmic energy. He called it "orgone", and the study of it "orgonomy".

Orgone is blue in color, he wrote, omnipresent, visible to the naked eye, and responsible for such things as weather, the color of the sky, gravity, the formation of galaxies, and the biological expressions of emotion and sexuality. Reich argued that St. Elmo's Fire is a manifestation of it, as is the blue color of sexually excited frogs. Red corpuscles, plant chlorophyll, gonadal cells, protozoa, and cancer cells are all charged with orgone, he said.

He argued that humankind had previously split its knowledge of orgone in two: "ether" for its mechanistic, physical aspects, and "God" for the spiritual, the subjective. He wrote that "God-Father is the basic cosmic energy from which all being stems, and which streams through (the) body as through anything else in existence."

Orgone accumulators

In 1940, he built boxes called "orgone accumulators" to concentrate atmospheric orgone. Some of the boxes were for lab animals, and some were large enough for a human being to sit inside. Composed of alternating layers of ferrous metals and organic insulators with a high dielectric constant, the accumulators had the appearance of a large, hollow capacitor. Based on experiments with them, he argued that orgone energy was a negatively-entropic force in nature responsible for concentrating and organizing matter. The construction of the boxes caught the attention of the press, leading to wild rumors that they were "sex boxes" that caused uncontrollable erections.

According to Reich's theory, illness was primarily caused by depletion or blockages of the orgone energy within the body. He conducted clinical tests of the orgone accumulator on people suffering from a variety of illnesses. The patient would sit within the accumulator and absorb the "concentrated orgone energy." He built smaller, more portable accumulator-blankets of the same layered construction for application to parts of the body. The effects observed were said to boost the immune system, even to the point of destroying certain types of tumors, though Reich was hesitant to claim this constituted a cure. The orgone accumulator was also tested on mice with cancer, and on plant-growth, the results convincing Reich that the benefits of orgone therapy could not be attributed to a placebo effect. He had, he believed, developed a grand unified theory of physical and mental health, a claim regarded by the psychoanalytic community as quackery.

Experiment XX

In December 1944, Reich began the 20th (Roman numeral XX) in his series of bion experiments. He filtered all the earth out of an earth bion preparation so that all that remained was clear yellow water, then buried the test tube outdoors in the frozen ground. When he retrieved it three weeks later and examined it under a microscope, he saw pulsating plasmatic flakes. Since the yellow water had not contained visible particulates before it had been frozen, Reich concluded that free orgone energy had condensed out to form the lifelike flakes. This experiment formed the basis for Reich's later theory that all matter in the universe had derived from orgone energy via cosmic superimposition.

Cloudbusters

Reich posited a conjugate, life-annulling energy in opposition to orgone, which he dubbed Deadly Orgone Radiation or DOR. He wrote that accumulations of DOR played a role in desertification, and he designed a "cloudbuster" with which he said he could manipulate streams of orgone energy in the atmosphere to induce rain by forcing clouds to form and disperse. It was a set of hollow metal pipes and cables inserted into water, which Reich argued created a stronger orgone energy field than was in the atmosphere, the water drawing the atmospheric orgone through the pipes.

Reich conducted dozens of experiments with the cloudbuster, calling the research "Cosmic Orgone Engineering." In 1953, a drought threatened Maine's blueberry crop, and several farmers offered to pay Reich if he could make it rain. The weather bureau had reportedly forecast no rain for several days when Reich began the experiment at 10 a.m. on July 6, 1953. The Bangor ''Daily News'' reported on July 24:

Dr. Reich and three assistants set up their "rain-making" device off the shore of Grand Lake, near the Bangor hydro-electric dam ... The device, a set of hollow tubes, suspended over a small cylinder, connected by a cable, conducted a "drawing" operation for about an hour and ten minutes ...

According to a reliable source in Ellsworth the following climactic changes took place in that city on the night of July 6 and the early morning of July 7: "Rain began to fall shortly after ten o'clock Monday evening, first as a drizzle and then by midnight as a gentle, steady rain. Rain continued throughout the night, and a rainfall of 0.24 inches was recorded in Ellsworth the following morning."

A puzzled witness to the "rain-making" process said: "The queerest looking clouds you ever saw began to form soon after they got the thing rolling." And later the same witness said the scientists were able to change the course of the wind by manipulation of the device.

The blueberry crop survived, the farmers declared themselves satisfied, and Reich received his fee.

Orgone experiment with Einstein

On December 30, 1940, Reich wrote to Albert Einstein saying he had a scientific discovery he wanted to discuss, and on January 13, 1941, went to visit Einstein in Princeton. They talked for five hours, and Einstein agreed to test an orgone accumulator, which Reich had constructed out of a Faraday cage made of galvanized steel and insulated by wood and paper on the outside. Einstein agreed that if, as Reich suggested, an object's temperature could be raised without an apparent heating source, it would be a "bombshell" in physics.

Reich supplied Einstein with a small accumulator during their second meeting, and Einstein performed the experiment in his basement, which involved taking the temperature atop, inside, and near the device. He also stripped the device down to its Faraday cage to compare temperatures. In his attempt to replicate Reich's findings, Einstein observed a rise in temperature, which Reich argued was caused by the orgone energy that had accumulated inside the Faraday cage. However, one of Einstein's assistants pointed out that the temperature was lower on the floor than on the ceiling. Following that remark, Einstein modified the experiment and, as a result, concluded that the effect was simply due to the temperature gradient inside the room. He wrote back to Reich, describing his experiments and expressing the hope that Reich would develop a more skeptical approach.

Reich responded with a 25-page letter to Einstein, expressing concern that "convection from the ceiling" would join "air germs" and "Brownian movement" to explain away new findings. The correspondence between Reich and Einstein was published by Reich's press as ''The Einstein Affair'' in 1953, possibly without Einstein's permission.

Arrested by the FBI

On December 12, 1941, five days after Pearl Harbor, Reich was arrested at his home at 2 a.m. by the FBI, and taken to Ellis Island, where he was held for over three weeks, because he was an immigrant with a communist background. He was furious, and blamed his first wife, with whom he had a very poor relationship, for having reported him in some way, though there is no evidence that she was involved. His psoriasis erupted, and his doctor persuaded the authorities to transfer him to the hospital ward, where Ilse was allowed to visit him twice a week. Wolfe and a lawyer did their best to find out what the charge was, Wolfe traveling several times to Washington to protest, but it was not until December 26 that a hearing was held, and still it remained unclear why he had been picked up. He was questioned about several books the FBI had found in his home, including Hitler's ''Mein Kampf'', Trotsky's ''My Life'', and a Russian alphabet book for children. Eventually Reich threatened to go on hunger strike, and he was released on January 5, 1942. The FBI released 789 pages of its files on Reich in 2000, which said:

This German immigrant described himself as the Associate Professor of Medical Psychology, Director of the Orgone Institute, President and research physician of the Wilhelm Reich Foundation and discoverer of biological or life energy. A 1940 security investigation was begun to determine the extent of Reich's communist commitments. A board of Alien Enemy Hearing judged that Dr. Reich was not a threat to the security of the U.S.

Purchase of Orgonon

Using money from his income as a therapist, and contributions from students, Reich purchased an old farm near Dodge Pond, Maine in November 1942. He called the of fields, forests, and hills "Orgonon". He built a laboratory there in 1945, and in 1948 began construction of the Orgone Energy Observatory, which included another laboratory, a library, and observation decks to study atmospheric orgone.

Controversy

1947: The Brady article and the FDA

Until 1947, Reich enjoyed a largely uncritical press in the U.S. His psychotherapy practice was flourishing, his psychoanalytic theories were taught in universities and discussed in the ''Journal of the American Medical Association'' and the ''American Journal of Psychiatry''. He was listed in ''American Men of Science'', and ''The Nation'' gave his writing positive reviews. Only one science journal, ''Psychosomatic Medicine'', had criticized him, calling his ideas about orgone a "surrealist creation."

His reputation took a sudden downturn in May 1947. On May 26, an article by freelance writer Mildred Edie Brady appeared in ''The New Republic'', entitled "The Strange Case of Wilhelm Reich", with the subhead, "The man who blames both neuroses and cancer on unsatisfactory sexual activities has been repudiated by only one scientific journal." Brady wrote: "Orgone, named after the sexual orgasm, is, according to Reich, a cosmic energy. It is, in fact, ''the'' cosmic energy. Reich has not only discovered it; he has seen it, demonstrated it and named a town—Orgonon, Maine—after it. Here he builds accumulators of it, which are rented out to patients, who presumably derive 'orgastic potency' from it." Sharaf writes that the implication was clear: the accumulators gave orgastic potency, the lack of which causes cancer. Therefore, the claim for the accumulators was that they cured cancer. Brady argued that the "growing Reich cult" had to be dealt with.

The regulation and advertising of medical devices is shared and coordinated by the Federal Trade Commission and the Food and Drug Administration. On July 23, Dr. J.J. Durrett, director of the Medical Advisory Division of the Federal Trade Commission, wrote to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) asking them to look into Reich's claims about the health benefits of orgone. The FDA assigned an investigator to the case, who learned that Reich had built 250 accumulators; the FDA concluded that they were dealing with a "fraud of the first magnitude." Sharaf writes that the FDA suspected a sexual racket of some kind; questions were asked about the women associated with orgonomy and "what was done with them."

In November, Reich wrote in ''Conspiracy. An Emotional Chain Reaction'': "I would like to plead for my right to investigate natural phenomena without having guns pointed at me. I also ask for the right to be wrong without being hanged for it ... I am angry because smearing can do anything and truth can do so little to prevail, as it seems at the moment." Sharaf writes that Reich came to believe that Brady was a Stalinist acting under orders from the Communist Party, a "communist sniper," as Reich called her.

1954 injunction

Over the years, the FDA interviewed physicians, Reich's students, and his patients, asking about Reich's use of orgone accumulators. On July 29, 1952, an unannounced inspection was conducted at Orgonon. One inspector was a regular FDA inspector, another an FDA medical expert, and a third an FDA device expert. Reich was known to abhor unannounced visitors; he had once chased some people away with a gun just for looking at an adjacent property. He shouted at the FDA men, told them they had to read his writings before he would interact with them, and ordered them to leave.

The visit began a period of investigation by the FDA, triggering belligerent responses from Reich, who called them "higs," hoodlums in government, and the tools of red fascists. He developed a delusion that he had powerful friends in government, including President Eisenhower, who he believed would protect him, and that the U.S. Air Force was flying over Orgonon to make sure that he was all right.

On February 10, 1954, the U.S. Attorney for Maine filed a complaint seeking a permanent injunction under Sections 301 and 302 of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act, to prevent interstate shipment of orgone accumulators and to ban some of Reich's writing promoting and advertising the devices. Reich refused to appear in court, arguing that no court was in a position to evaluate his work. In a long letter to Judge Clifford, he wrote:

My factual position in the case as well as in the world of science of today does not permit me to enter the case against the Food and Drug Administration, since such action would, in my mind, imply admission of the authority of this special branch of the government to pass judgment on primordial, pre-atomic cosmic orgone energy. I, therefore, rest the case in full confidence in your hands.

Maine was granted the injunction by default on March 19, 1954. His ruling was more extensive than the original complaint. He ordered that all accumulators and their parts were to be destroyed. All written material of promotional information and instructions for use (labeling) on the accumulators was also to be destroyed. This included ten of Reich's books that mentioned orgone energy, until such time as references to orgone were deleted; the list included ''Character Analysis'' and ''The Mass Psychology of Fascism''.

May 1956: Trial

In May 1956, Reich traveled to Arizona to experiment with the cloudbuster. In his absence, and without his knowledge, one of his students, Dr. Michael Silvert, moved some accumulators and books from Rangeley, Maine to New York, in violation of the injunction. Reich and Silvert were both charged with contempt of court. Once again, he refused to arrange a legal defense. He was brought in chains to the courthouse in Portland, Maine. Representing himself, he admitted to the violation and, in his defense, arranged for the judge to be sent copies of his books. He was found guilty of contempt of court on May 7, 1956, and sentenced to two years' imprisonment. Silvert was sentenced to a year and a day. The Wilhelm Reich Foundation, which Reich's students and friends had set up in 1949, was fined $10,000.

Dr. Morton Herskowitz, a fellow psychiatrist and friend of Reich's, wrote of the trial: "Because he viewed himself as a historical figure, he was making a historical point, and to make that point he had conducted the trial that way. If I had been in his shoes, I would have wanted to escape jail, I would have wanted to be free, etc. I would have conducted the trial on a strictly legal basis because the lawyers had said, 'We can win this case for you. Their case is so weak, so when you let us do our thing we can get you off.' But he wouldn't do it." Reich appealed in October 1956, but the Court of Appeals upheld the lower court's decision on December 11. He appealed to the Supreme Court, which decided on February 25, 1957 not to review the lower courts' decisions. Reich and Silvert then asked for a suspension or reduction of their sentences; a hearing was set for March 11, to be followed by jail if the request did not succeed. The judge later wrote to the U.S. Board of Parole that he had been inclined to suspend or reduce the sentence, but the government established that Reich would not discontinue promoting the orgone accumulator. Reich then appealed to the President, to no avail.

1956: Book burning

On June 5, 1956, as Reich was arranging his first appeal, two FDA officials traveled to Orgonon to supervise the destruction of Reich's accumulators. Most of them had been sold at that point, and another 50 were with Silvert in New York. Only three were at Orgonon. The FDA agents were not allowed to destroy them, only to supervise the destruction, so Reich's friends, and his son Peter, chopped them up with axes as the agents watched. On June 26, the agents returned to supervise the destruction of the promotional material, including some of his books. On July 9, the American Civil Liberties Union issued a press release criticizing the book burning, although coverage of the release was poor, and Reich ended up asking them not to help him because he was annoyed that they failed to criticize the destruction of the accumulators. In England, a letter of protest signed by A.S. Neill and Herbert Read also failed to find a publisher. On July 23, the remaining accumulators in New York were destroyed by S.A. Collins and Sons, who had built them.

On August 23, six tons of his books, journals, and papers were burned in the 25th Street public incinerator in New York's lower east side, the Gansevoort incinerator. Among the material destroyed were titles that were supposed only to be banned, including 12,189 copies of the ''Orgone Energy Bulletin'', 6,261 copies of the ''International Journal of Sex Economy and Orgone Research'', 2,900 copies of ''Emotional Plague Versus Orgone Biophysics'', 2,976 copies of ''Annals of the Orgone Institute'', and hardcover copies of several of his books, including ''The Sexual Revolution'', ''Character Analysis'', and ''The Mass Psychology of Fascism''. This action has been cited as one of the worst examples of censorship in U.S. history.

As with the accumulators, the FDA was supposed only to observe the destruction, while his colleagues carried it out. One of them, Victor Sobey, wrote: "All the expenses and labor had to be provided by the [Orgone Institute] Press. A huge truck with three to help was hired. I felt like people who, when they are to be executed, are made to dig their own graves first and are then shot and thrown in. We carried box after box of the literature."

1957: Imprisonment and death

On February 10, 1957, Reich signed his last will, naming his daughter, Eva, as his executrix. On March 12, he was sent to Danbury Federal Prison, where Richard C. Hubbard, a psychiatrist who admired Reich, examined him, recording paranoia manifested by delusions of grandiosity, persecution, and ideas of reference:

The patient feels that he has made outstanding discoveries. Gradually over a period of many years he has explained the failure of his ideas in becoming universally accepted by the elaboration of psychotic thinking. "The Rockerfellows (sic) are against me." (Delusion of grandiosity.) "The airplanes flying over prison are sent by the Air Force to encourage me." (Ideas of reference and grandiosity.)

On March 22, he was transferred to the federal penitentiary in Lewisburg, Pennsylvania, where there were better psychiatric facilities, and was examined again. This time, it was decided that he was mentally competent, and that his personality appeared intact, though he might become psychotic under stress. Two days later, on his 60th birthday, he wrote to his son, Peter, then 13:

I am in Lewisburg. I am calm, certain in my thoughts, and doing mathematics most of the time. I am kind of "above things," fully aware of what is up. Do not worry too much about me, though anything might happen. I know, Pete, that you are strong and decent. At first I thought that you should ''not'' visit me here. I do not know. With the world in turmoil I now feel that a boy your age should experience what is coming his way—fully digest it without getting a "belly ache," so to speak, nor getting off the right track of truth, fact, honesty, fair play, and being above board—''never a sneak''. ...

Peter did visit him at Lewisburg several times. Reich told him that he cried a lot, and wanted Peter to let himself cry too, believing that tears are the "great softener." His last letter to his son was on October 22, when he said he was in good spirits, and looking forward to being released on November 10, when he would have served one third of his sentence; a parole hearing had been scheduled for just a few days before. He wrote that he and Peter had a date for a meal at the Howard Johnson restaurant near Peter's school.

Reich failed to appear for morning roll call on November 3, and was found dead in his bed at 7 a.m., fully clothed but for his shoes. The prison physician said he had died during the night of "myocardial insufficiency with sudden heart failure." He was buried in a plot of land he had chosen in the woods at Orgonon, in a coffin he had bought a year earlier from a Maine craftsman. He had left instructions that there was to be no religious ceremony, but that a record should be played of Schubert's "Ave Maria" sung by Marian Anderson, and that his granite headstone should read simply: "Wilhelm Reich, Born March 24, 1897, Died ..." Dr. Elsworth F. Baker, a physician friend, said at his funeral, "Once in a thousand years, nay once in two thousand years, such a man comes upon this earth to change the destiny of the human race. As with all great men, distortion, falsehood, and persecution followed him. He met them all, until organized conspiracy sent him to prison and then killed him." A replica of a cloudbuster stands next to his grave, and the building that housed his laboratory is now the Wilhelm Reich Museum.

None of the psychiatric and established scientific journals carried an obituary. ''Time'' magazine wrote on November 18, 1957:

Legacy

Status of his work

The study of Reich's work has been hampered by the instruction he left that his unpublished papers were to be stored for 50 years after his death, "to secure their safety from destruction and falsification ...," which has meant that researchers, even scholars, were not able to access them until 2007.

New research journals devoted to his work began to appear in the 1960s. Physicians and natural scientists with an interest in Reich organized small study groups and institutes, and new research efforts were undertaken, though the mainstream scientific community remains largely uninterested in his ideas. William Steig, Robert Anton Wilson, Norman Mailer, William S. Burroughs, Jerome D. Salinger and Orson Bean have all undergone Reich's orgone therapy and there is some use of orgone accumulators by psychotherapists in Europe, particularly in Germany. A double-blind, controlled study of the effects of the orgone accumulator was carried out by Stefan Müschenich and Rainer Gebauer at the University of Marburg and appeared to validate some of Reich's claims. The study was later reproduced by Günter Hebenstreit at the University of Vienna.

Reich's influence is felt in modern psychotherapy. He was a pioneer of body psychotherapy and several emotions-based psychotherapies, influencing Fritz Perls's Gestalt therapy and Arthur Janov's primal therapy. His pupil Alexander Lowen, the founder of bioenergetic analysis, and Charles Kelley, the founder of Radix therapy, ensure that his research receives widespread attention. Many practising psychoanalysts give credence to his theory of character, as outlined in ''Character Analysis'' (1933, enlarged 1949). The American College of Orgonomy, founded by Dr. Elsworth Baker, and the Institute for Orgonomic Science, led by Dr. Morton Herskowitz, still use Reich's original therapeutic methods.

Nearly all his publications have been reprinted, apart from his research journals, which are available as photocopies from the Wilhelm Reich Museum. The first editions are not available: Reich continuously amended his books throughout his life, and the owners of Reich's copyright only allow the latest revised versions to be reprinted. In the late 1960s, Farrar, Straus & Giroux republished all his major works. Later in the 20th century, Michel Foucault wrote that the impact of Reich's critique of sexual repression was substantial.

In popular culture

Reich continues to influence popular culture, with references to orgone and cloudbusting found in songs by Kate Bush, Clutch, Hawkwind, Pop Will Eat Itself, Turbonegro, Bob Dylan, and Patti Smith ("Birdland" on ''Horses'').

He is a character in the opera ''Marilyn'' (1979) by Italian composer Lorenzo Ferrero.

Kate Bush's song "Cloudbusting" describes Reich's arrest and incarceration through the eyes of Reich's son, Peter, who wrote his father's story in ''A Book of Dreams'', published in 1973. The video for the song was directed by Julian Doyle, conceived by Terry Gilliam and Bush, and has Donald Sutherland as Reich, and Bush as Peter.

An article about the female orgasm by Reich provided the inspiration for "Little Man Within" by Welsh singer/songwriter Karl Wallinger of World Party.

Author Robert Anton Wilson wrote a play, ''Wilhelm Reich in Hell'', partly based on Reich's life; it was also published as a book in 1987. Wilson frequently referred to Reich and Reich's works in both his fiction and non-fiction. Notably, one character in Wilson's ''Schrödinger's Cat Trilogy'' is a witness to the 1957 book-burning.

Reich's work is described in Italian writer Valerio Evangelisti's novel ''Il mistero dell'inquisitore Eymerich'' ("The mystery of Inquisitor Eymerich"), in which Reich is described as a visionary whose ideas were ahead of his time.

A film about his teachings called ''W.R.: Mysteries of the Organism'' was made in 1971 by Yugoslavian director Dušan Makavejev, and was listed by film critic Roger Ebert in his "Great Movie" series in 2007.

A short drama film about Reich by Jon East, called "It can be done," was nominated for a Silver Lion at the 1999 Venice Film Festival.

The superhero "Orgone Lad", a member of the League of Infinity is Wilhelm Reich, ''Supreme'' by Alan Moore(2000).

"He did ten years in Attica, reading Nietzsche and Wilhelm Reich"—from the song "Joey" on the album ''Desire'' by Bob Dylan.

In Jack Kerouac's autobiographical novel ''On the Road'', written in 1951, Old Bull Lee (modelled on William Burroughs) extols the benefits of the orgone accumulator he owns and considers how it may be improved by building it from "more organic" wood. Burroughs makes several references to Orgone energy in his own novels and essays.

The final episode of series 5 of British TV series Peep Show featured two main characters becoming enamoured of a religious cult that expounded Reich's orgone theory.

Reich is the subject, along with real estate developer Del Webb, of the 2008 documentary ''Wasteland Utopias'' by filmmaker David Sherman.

The Australian product designer Marc Newson has produced several 'Orgone' items of furniture, most famously his 'Orgone Chair.'

The post punk band Devo credited Mayan technology and Reich as the sources of inspiration for their 'energy dome' hats in an interview with Stephen Colbert on June 16, 2010.

Works

See also

Phallic narcissism

Notes

Further reading

Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust home page

''Man's Right to Know: The Story of Wilhelm Reich'', Wilhelm Reich Infant Trust (video), includes footage of Reich.

Reich's FBI file Also see here.

Baker, Elsworth F., ''Man In The Trap'', Macmillan, NY, 1967.

Bean, Orson, ''Me And The Orgone'', St. Martin's Press, NY, 1971.

Boadella, David. ''Wilhelm Reich, The Evolution Of His Work'', Henry Regnery, Chicago, 1973.

Boadella, David (ed.). ''In The Wake Of Reich'', Coventure, London, 1976.

Corrington, Robert S. (2003). ''Wilhelm Reich: Psychoanalyst and Radical Naturalist'', Farrar, Straus and Giroux, NY, 2003

D'Aloia, Alessandro (2004). Marxism and Psychoanalysis: Notes on Wilhelm Reich's life and work, first published in ''FalceMartello'', ''International Marxist Tendency, October 15, 2004.

DeMeo, James (1989). ''The Orgone Accumulator Handbook: Construction Plans, Experimental Use and Protection Against Toxic Energy'', Natural Energy Works.

DeMeo, James (1989). Response to Martin Gardner's Attack on Reich and Orgone Research in the ''Skeptical Inquirer''.

DeMeo, James (ed.) (1993). "On Wilhelm Reich And Orgonomy", ''Pulse of the Planet'', No. 4, Natural Energy Works.

DeMeo, James & Senf, Bernd (eds.) (1998). ''Nach Reich: Neue Forschungen zur Orgonomie: Sexualokonomie, Die Entdeckung Der Orgonenergie'' (After Reich: New Research in Orgonomy: Sex-Economy, Discovery of the Orgone Energy), Zweitausendeins Verlag, Frankfurt.

Greenfield, Jerome (1974). ''Wilhelm Reich Vs. The USA'', W.W. Norton, NY, 1974.

Guillon, Claude (1978). ''Pour en finir avec Reich'', ''Alternative diffusion'', 1978.

Herskowitz, Morton (1998). ''Emotional Armoring: An Introduction to Psychiatric Orgone Therapy'', Transactions Press.

Kendrick, William (1983). “The Analyst as Outsider”, a review of Myron Sharaf's ''Fury on Earth: A Biography of Wilhelm Reich'', ''The New York Times'', April 3, 1983.

Laska, Bernd A. (1981). "Sigmund Freud contra Wilhelm Reich", ''Wilhelm Reich. Bildmonographie''. Rowohlt, Reinbek 1981, 1999.

Mann, Edward (1973). ''Orgone. Reich And Eros: Wilhelm Reich's Theory Of The Life Energy'', Simon & Schuster.

Mann, Edward & Hoffman (ed.) (1980). ''The Man Who Dreamed Of Tomorrow: A Conceptual Biography Of Wilhelm Reich'', J.P. Tarcher, 1980.

Martin, Jim (2000). ''Wilhelm Reich and the Cold War'', Flatland Books.

Meyerowitz, Jacob (1994). ''Before the Beginning of Time'', rRp Publishers.

Ollendorff, Ilse. (1969). ''Wilhelm Reich: A Personal Biography'', St. Martin's Press.

Raknes, Ola (1970). ''Wilhelm Reich And Orgonomy'', St. Martin's Press.

Reich, Peter (1973). ''A Book Of Dreams'', Harper & Row.

Ritter, Paul (ed.) (1958). ''Wilhelm Reich Memorial Volume'', Ritter Press.

Senf, Bernd (1996). ''Die Wiederentdeckung des Lebendigen (The Rediscovery of the Living)'', Zweitausendeins Verlag.

Wilson, Robert Anton (1998). ''Wilhelm Reich in Hell'', Aires Press.

Wyckoff, James (1973). ''Wilhelm Reich: Life Force Explorer'', Fawcett.

Los Orgones, Argentinian site of Orgonomy

Bibliography on Orgonomy, a full listing of scholarly works on Wilhelm Reich

Orgone Biophysical Research Laboratory

PORE, Public Orgonomic Research Exchange (Includes a Biography (Timeline) of Wilhelm Reich and his Orgonomic Research)

The American College of Orgonomy

Wilhelm Reich Gesellschaft

Wilhelm Reich Orgon Institut Deutschland

Wilhelm Reich Akademie

Reichian therapy.

Works by Wilhelm Reich

The Einstein experiments

The Einstein Affair, Orgone Institute Press, 1953.

Aspden, H. (2001). "Gravity and its thermal anomaly: was the Reich-Einstein experiment evidence of energy inflow from the aether?," ''Infinite Energy'', 41:61.

Bearden, T. (2002). "Energy from the vacuum," Cheniere Press, pp. 333–337.

Brian, Denis (1996). ''Einstein: A Life'', John Wiley & Sons. Reich is discussed on pp. 325–327, 382, 399.

Clark, Ronald W. (1971). ''Einstein: The Life and Times'', Avon. Reich is on pp. 689–690 of the paperback edition.

Correa, P and Correa, A. (1998, 2001). "The thermal anomaly in ORACs and the Reich-Einstein experiment: implications for blackbody theory," Akronos Publishing.

Correa P and Correa A. (2001). "The reproducible thermal anomaly of the Reich-Einstein experiment under limit conditions," ''Infinite Energy'', 37:12.

Mallove, E. (2001). "Breaking Through: A Bombshell in Science," ''Infinite Energy'', 37:6.

Mallove, E. (2001). "Breaking Through: Aether Science and Technology," ''Infinite Energy'', 39:6.

External links

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David Hagberg is an American novelist best known for his techno-thrillers featuring super-spy Kirk McGarvey. Hagberg has also written under the pseudonym Sean Flannery, Nick Carter, David Bannerman, David James, Robert Pell, and Eric Ramsey. Hagberg's style has been described as a cross between Tom Clancy and Ian Fleming. His thrillers generally feature a combination of technical detail, timely plots and super-spy heroics that are sometimes almost prophetic in their accuracy . In the novel ''Joshua's Hammer'', for example, written in 2000, Hagberg gives a chilling account of a mega-terrorist plot by Osama bin Laden to kill thousands of Americans on their home soil, published a full year before the World Trade Center Attacks. His scenario of McGarvey tracking bin Laden to his urban lair in Pakistan and shooting him in the head -- far from Tora Bora’s caves -- was described and executed in “Allah’s Scorpion (2007)” four years before the eerily similar event echoed Hagberg’s novel.

Like many "cloak-and-dagger" novelists, Hagberg has a professional background in espionage, having spent his stint of military duty as a cryptographer for U.S. Air Force Intelligence.

Hagberg apprenticed as a spy writer by contributing more than 20 "work-for-hire" entries in the Nick Carter - Killmaster series of espionage novels between 1976 and 1987. He also wrote "work-for-hire" novels based on the Flash Gordon comic strip.

His work has been well-received by his colleagues in the crime writing community. Three of his novels, ''The Kremlin Conspiracy'', ''False Prophets'', and ''Broken Idols'', were nominated for Edgars by the MWA in the "Best Paperback Original Novel" category. Three of his McGarvey novels, ''Countdown'', ''Crossfire'', and ''Critical Mass'', won American Mystery Awards, given by ''Mystery Scene Magazine'', for "Best Spy Novel."

Hagberg wrote a short story titled "Genesis" in Twilight Zone: 19 Original Stories on the 50th Anniversary.

Bibliography

Kirk McGarvey Novels

''Without Honor'' (1989)

''Countdown'' (1990)

''Crossfire'' (1991)

''Critical Mass'' (1992)

''High Flight'' (1995)

''Assassin'' (1997)

''White House'' (1999)

''Joshua's Hammer'' (2000)

''The Kill Zone'' (2002)

''Soldier of God'' (2005)

''Allah's Scorpion'' (2007)

''Dance with the Dragon'' (2007)

''The Expediter'' (2009)

Miscellaneous Novels

''Twister'' (1975)

''The Capsule'' (1976)

''Croc'' (1976) (writing as David James)

''That Winslow Woman'' (1977) (writing as Robert Pell)

''The Kummersdorf Connection'' (1978) (writing as Eric Ramsey)

''Heartland'' (1983)

''Heroes'' (1985)

''Last Come the Children'' (1987)

''Desert Fire'' (1993)

''Eden's Gate'' (2001)

''By Dawn's Early Light'' (2003)

''Terminator 3: Rise Of The Machines'' (2003)

''Burned'' (2009)

Novels written as Sean Flannery

''Kremlin Conspiracy' (1979)

''The Trinity Factor'' (1981)

''Eagles Fly'' (1982)

''Hollow Men'' (1982)

''Broken Idols'' (1985)

''False Prophets'' (1985)

''Gulag'' (1987)

''Moscow Crossing'' (1988)

''The Zebra Network'' (1989)

''Crossed Swords'' (1989)

''Counterstrike'' (1990)

''Moving Targets'' (1991)

''Winner Take All'' (1994)

''Kilo Option'' (1996)

''Achilles' Heel'' (1998)

Flash Gordon Novels

''Massacre in the 22nd Century'' (1980)

''War of the Citadels'' (1980)

''Crisis on Citadel II'' (1980)

''Forces from the Federation'' (1981)

''Citadels Under Attack'' (1981)

''Citadels on Earth'' (1981)

Magic Man Novels (writing as David Bannerman)

''The Magic Man'' (1983)

''The Gamov Factor'' (1983)

''Pipeline from Hell'' (1984)

''Call of Honor'' (1985)

Nick Carter - Killmaster Novels (writing as Nick Carter)

''Sign of the Prayer Shawl'' (1976)

''Race of Death'' (1978)

''The Ouster Conspiracy'' (1981)

''The Strontium Code'' (1981)

''Deathlight'' (1982)

''The Dominican Affair'' (1982)

''The Puppet Master'' (1982)

''The Hunter'' (1982)

''Appointment in Haiphong'' (1982)

''Operation McMurdo Sound'' (1982)

''Retreat for Death'' (1982)

''The Damocles Threat'' (1982)

''The Istanbul Decision'' (1983)

''Earthfire North'' (1983)

''Zero-Hour Strike Force'' (1984)

''Death Island'' (1984)

''Death Hand Play'' (1984)

''The Vengeance Game'' (1985)

''The Killing Ground'' (1986)

''Death Orbit'' (1986)

''Operation Petrograd'' (1986)

''East of Hell'' (1987)

References

External links

Official David Hagberg web site

Category:American thriller writers Category:Living people Category:American novelists Category:American spy fiction writers

name	Energy 52
background	group_or_band
genre	Epic trance
years active	1991-1993
website	}}

Energy 52 was a solo project of German Paul M. (DJ Kid Paul) . The 1993 track "Café del Mar" became one of the most heard trance songs in the world; its dozens of remixes have appeared on hundred of compilation albums. In April 2011, the song was voted number one by BBC Radio 1 listeners in Pete Tong's Top 20 Dance Tracks of the last 20 years.

References

Category:German DJs Category:German trance music groups Category:German dance music groups

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