Bookstore

Books by Wilhelm Reich
   American Odyssey
   Beyond Psychology
   The Bioelectrical Investigation
      of Sexuality and Anxiety
   The Bion Experiments
   The Cancer Biopathy
   Character Analysis
   Children of the Future
   Contact With Space
   Early Writings
   Ether, God, and Devil / Cosmic
      Superimposition
   The Function of the Orgasm
   Genitality in the Theory and
      Therapy of Neurosis
   The Invasion of Compulsory
      Sex-Morality
   Listen, Little Man!
   The Mass Psychology of
      Fascism
   The Murder of Christ
   Passion of Youth
   People in Trouble
   Record of a Friendship
   Reich Speaks of Freud
   Selected Writings
   The Sexual Revolution
   Where's the Truth?
Journals & Bulletins
Foreign Language Materials
German Manuscripts
Other Print Material
Audio
Video
Photographs
Paintings by Reich
Other Gifts

To sign up, send your name
and email address to:
info@wilhelmreichtrust.org.

Access previous updates
by clicking Updates
at the top of the page.

The Bion Experiments
On the Origin of Life

Paperback $18.00

Original Publication: Sexpol Verlag - 1938
Re-published by Farrar, Straus and Giroux - 1979

"It is with some trepidation that I make known these experimental findings on the origin of vegetative life. It is not that I am worried about the correctness or accuracy of the data given, even though here or there an insignificant error or an awkward phrase may have crept in. All the findings described in this comprehensive, but not definitive, report were confirmed hundreds of times. I have omitted any observations that were not verified and I have gone to great lengths to describe the method as precisely as possible, so that it can be tested by others."

       Wilhelm Reich, M.D.
       (from Preface)

The Bion Experiments on the Origin of Life--first published as Die Bione in 1938 in a limited German edition--represents a cornerstone in Reich's scientific development. This work documents a series of experiments conducted in Oslo in 1936-37 in which Reich applied the formula of tension→charge→ discharge→relaxation, derived from his research on the function of the orgasm, to the microscopic biological world, thereby opening a route to the understanding of the origin of life. This work is divided into two parts: the first, a detailed report on the experiments; the second, Reich's conclusions and an exposition of his research method.

The Bion Experiments provides a unique insight into Reich's scientific method, and makes available the experimental material essential to understanding his later work with cancer and orgone biophysics.

Read an excerpt [PDF]