Green chemistry

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Green chemistry, also called sustainable chemistry, is a philosophy of chemical research and engineering that encourages the design of products and processes that minimize the use and generation of hazardous substances.^[1] Whereas environmental chemistry is the chemistry of the natural environment, and of pollutant chemicals in nature, green chemistry seeks to reduce the negative impact of chemistry on the environment by preventing pollution at its source and using fewer natural resources.

As a chemical philosophy, green chemistry applies to organic chemistry, inorganic chemistry, biochemistry, analytical chemistry, physical chemistry and even chemical engineering. While green chemistry seems to focus on industrial applications, it does apply to any chemistry choice. Click chemistry is often cited as a style of chemical synthesis that is consistent with the goals of green chemistry. The focus is on minimizing the hazard and maximizing the efficiency of any chemical choice.

In 2005 Ryōji Noyori identified three key developments in green chemistry: use of supercritical carbon dioxide as green solvent, aqueous hydrogen peroxide for clean oxidations and the use of hydrogen in asymmetric synthesis.^[2] Examples of applied green chemistry are supercritical water oxidation, on water reactions, and dry media reactions.

Bioengineering is also seen as a promising technique for achieving green chemistry goals. A number of important process chemicals can be synthesized in engineered organisms, such as shikimate, a Tamiflu precursor which is fermented by Roche in bacteria.

The term green chemistry was coined by Paul Anastas in 1991.^[3] However, it has been suggested^[4] that the concept was originated by Trevor Kletz in his 1978 paper in Chemistry and Industry where he proposed that chemists should seek alternative processes to those involving more dangerous substances and conditions.^[5] The "Zero Effluent Lab Manual" was developed by Thomas Hellman Morton when he was on the faculty at Brown University in the 1970s. The Manual is still available on-line via links at the Hendrix College Green Chemistry site. Also in Chemistry and Industry the solvent free green chemistry version of “The Hajos-Parrish Cyclisation” has been highlighted in 1996 by Professors Andrew B. Holmes and G. Richard Stephenson.^[6]

Principles

Paul Anastas, then of the United States Environmental Protection Agency, and John C. Warner developed 12 principles of green chemistry,^[7] which help to explain what the definition means in practice. The principles cover such concepts as:

• the design of processes to maximize the amount of raw material that ends up in the product;
• the use of safe, environment-benign substances, including solvents, whenever possible;
• the design of energy efficient processes;
• the best form of waste disposal: not to create it in the first place.

The 12 principles are:

1. It is better to prevent waste than to treat or clean up waste after it is formed.
2. Synthetic methods should be designed to maximize the incorporation of all materials used in the process into the final product.
3. Wherever practicable, synthetic methodologies should be designed to use and generate substances that possess little or no toxicity to human health and the environment.
4. Chemical products should be designed to preserve efficacy of function while reducing toxicity.
5. The use of auxiliary substances (e.g. solvents, separation agents, etc.) should be made unnecessary wherever possible and innocuous when used.
6. Energy requirements should be recognized for their environmental and economic impacts and should be minimized. Synthetic methods should be conducted at ambient temperature and pressure.
7. A raw material or feedstock should be renewable rather than depleting wherever technically and economically practicable.
8. Reduce derivatives – Unnecessary derivatization (blocking group, protection/deprotection, temporary modification) should be avoided whenever possible.
9. Catalytic reagents (as selective as possible) are superior to stoichiometric reagents.
10. Chemical products should be designed so that at the end of their function they do not persist in the environment and break down into innocuous degradation products.
11. Analytical methodologies need to be further developed to allow for real-time, in-process monitoring and control prior to the formation of hazardous substances.
12. Substances and the form of a substance used in a chemical process should be chosen to minimize potential for chemical accidents, including releases, explosions, and fires.

Trends

Attempts are being made not only to quantify the greenness of a chemical process but also to factor in other variables such as chemical yield, the price of reaction components, safety in handling chemicals, hardware demands, energy profile and ease of product workup and purification. In one quantitative study,^[8] the reduction of nitrobenzene to aniline receives 64 points out of 100 marking it as an acceptable synthesis overall whereas a synthesis of an amide using HMDS is only described as adequate with a combined 32 points.

Green chemistry is increasingly seen as a powerful tool that researchers must use to evaluate the environmental impact of nanotechnology.^[9] As nanomaterials are developed, the environmental and human health impacts of both the products themselves and the processes to make them must be considered to ensure their long-term economic viability.

Examples

In the statement for the 2005 Nobel Prize for Chemistry for "the development of the metathesis method in organic synthesis," the Nobel Prize Committee states, "this represents a great step forward for 'green chemistry', reducing potentially hazardous waste through smarter production. Metathesis is an example of how important basic science has been applied for the benefit of man, society and the environment."^[10] The concept of green pharmacy was developed recently based on similar principles.^[11]

Hydrazine

Addressing principle #2 is the Peroxide Process for producing hydrazine without cogenerating salt. Hydrazine is traditionally produced by the Olin Raschig process from sodium hypochlorite (the active ingredient in many bleaches) and ammonia. The net reaction produces one equivalent of sodium chloride for every equivalent of the targeted product hydrazine:^[12]

NaOCl + 2 NH₃ → H₂N-NH₂ + NaCl + H₂O

In the greener Peroxide process hydrogen peroxide is employed as the oxidant, the side product being water. The net conversion follows:

2 NH₃ + H₂O₂ → H₂N-NH₂ + 2 H₂O

Addressing principle #4, this process does not require auxiliary extracting solvents. Methyl ethyl ketone is used as a carrier for the hydrazine, the intermediate ketazide phase separates from the reaction mixture, facilitating workup without the need of an extracting solvent.

1,3-Propanediol

Addressing principle #7 is a green route to 1,3-propanediol, which is traditionally generated from petrochemical precursors. It can be produced from renewable precursors via the bioseparation of 1,3-propanediol using a genetically modified strain of E. coli.^[13] This diol is used to make new polyesters for the manufacture of carpets.

Carbon dioxide as blowing agent

In 1996, Dow Chemical won the 1996 Greener Reaction Conditions award for their 100% carbon dioxide blowing agent for polystyrene foam production. Polystyrene foam is a common material used in packing and food transportation. Seven hundred million pounds are produced each year in the United States alone. Traditionally, CFC and other ozone-depleting chemicals were used in the production process of the foam sheets, presenting a serious environmental hazard. Flammable, explosive, and, in some cases toxic hydrocarbons have also been used as CFC replacements, but they present their own problems. Dow Chemical discovered that supercritical carbon dioxide works equally as well as a blowing agent, without the need for hazardous substances, allowing the polystyrene to be more easily recycled. The CO₂ used in the process is reused from other industries, so the net carbon released from the process is zero.

Lactide

Lactide

In 2002, Cargill Dow (now NatureWorks) won the Greener Reaction Conditions Award for their improved method for polymerization of polylactic acid . Unfortunately, lactide-base polymers do not perform well and the project was discontinued by Dow soon after the award. Lactic acid is produced by fermenting corn and converted to lactide, the cyclic dimer ester of lactic acid using an efficient, tin-catalyzed cyclization. The L,L-lactide enantiomer is isolated by distillation and polymerized in the melt to make a crystallizable polymer, which has some applications including textiles and apparel, cutlery, and food packaging. Wal-Mart has announced that it is using/will use PLA for its produce packaging. The NatureWorks PLA process substitutes renewable materials for petroleum feedstocks, doesn't require the use of hazardous organic solvents typical in other PLA processes, and results in a high-quality polymer that is recyclable and compostable.

Carpet tile backings

In 2003 Shaw Industries selected a combination of polyolefin resins as the base polymer of choice for EcoWorx due to the low toxicity of its feedstocks, superior adhesion properties, dimensional stability, and its ability to be recycled. The EcoWorx compound also had to be designed to be compatible with nylon carpet fiber. Although EcoWorx may be recovered from any fiber type, nylon-6 provides a significant advantage. Polyolefins are compatible with known nylon-6 depolymerization methods. PVC interferes with those processes. Nylon-6 chemistry is well-known and not addressed in first-generation production. From its inception, EcoWorx met all of the design criteria necessary to satisfy the needs of the marketplace from a performance, health, and environmental standpoint. Research indicated that separation of the fiber and backing through elutriation, grinding, and air separation proved to be the best way to recover the face and backing components, but an infrastructure for returning postconsumer EcoWorx to the elutriation process was necessary. Research also indicated that the postconsumer carpet tile had a positive economic value at the end of its useful life. EcoWorx is recognized by MBDC as a certified cradle-to-cradle design.

Trans and cis fatty acids

Transesterification of fats

In 2005, Archer Daniels Midland (ADM) and Novozymes won the Greener Synthetic Pathways Award for their enzyme interesterification process. In response to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) mandated labeling of trans-fats on nutritional information by January 1, 2006, Novozymes and ADM worked together to develop a clean, enzymatic process for the interesterification of oils and fats by interchanging saturated and unsaturated fatty acids. The result is commercially viable products without trans-fats. In addition to the human health benefits of eliminating trans-fats, the process has reduced the use of toxic chemicals and water, prevents vast amounts of byproducts, and reduces the amount of fats and oils wasted.

Bio-succinic acid

In 2011, the Outstanding Green Chemistry Accomplishments by a Small Business Award went to BioAmber Inc. for integrated production and downstream applications of bio-based succinic acid.
Succinic acid is a platform chemical that is an important starting material in the formulations of everyday products. Traditionally, succinic acid is produced from petroleum-based feedstocks. BioAmber has developed process and technology that produces succinic acid from the fermentation of renewable feedstocks at a lower cost and lower energy expenditure than the petroleum equivalent while sequestering CO₂ rather than emitting it.^[14]

Laboratory chemicals

Several laboratory chemicals are controversial from the perspective of Green chemistry. The Massachusetts Institute of Technology has created the [2] to help identify alternatives. Ethidium bromide, xylene, mercury, and formaldehyde have been identified as "worst offenders" which have alternatives.^[15] Solvents in particular make a large contribution to the environmental impact of chemical manufacturing and there is a growing focus on introducing Greener solvents into the earliest stage of development of these processes: laboratory-scale reaction and purification methods. In the Pharmaceutical Industry, both GSK^[16][17] and Pfizer^[18] have published Solvent Selection Guides for their Drug Discovery chemists.

Legislation

Europe

In 2007, Europe put into place the Registration, Evaluation, Authorisation, and Restriction of Chemicals (REACH) program, which requires companies to provide data showing that their products are safe. This regulation (1907/2006) ensures not only the assessment of the chemicals' hazards as well as risks during their uses but also includes measures for banning or restricting/authorising uses of specific substances. ECHA, the EU Chemicals Agency in Helsinki, is implementing the regulation whereas the enforcement lies with the EU member states. The US Toxic Substances Control Act, passed in 1976, in principle has similar provisions but is not comparable to REACH as to its regulatory effectiveness.

On September 29, 2008 California approved two laws which encourage green chemistry, launching the California Green Chemistry Initiative. The law requires California's Department of Toxic Substances Control to prioritize "chemicals of concern", and puts the burden of testing on the agency rather than industry. The laws were criticized by Paul Anastas, who stated that the laws did not go far enough in encouraging research, education, and industry incentives.^[19] The law called for regulations to be in place by January 1, 2011, but universal opposition to the previously proposed regulations rendered that date impossible. Mid October 2012 is the new target date for new draft regulations to be in place to implement the law.^[20]

United States

Passed in 1990, the Pollution Prevention Act helped create new approaches for dealing with pollution by preventing problems before they happen.

It has been stated that long-standing weaknesses in the U.S. chemical management program, notably the Toxic Substances Control Act (TSCA) of 1976, discounts the hazardous properties of chemicals relative to their function, price, and performance.^[21] The report concludes that these market conditions represent a key barrier to the scientific, technical, and commercial success of green chemistry in the U.S., and that fundamental policy changes are needed to correct these weaknesses.^[22]

Education

Many institutions offer courses^[23] and degrees on Green Chemistry. Examples from across the globe are Denmark's Technical University,^[24] and several in the US, e.g. at the Universities of Massachusetts-Boston,^[25] Michigan,^[26] and Oregon.^[27] A masters level course in Green Technology, has been introduced by the Institute of Chemical Technology, India. In the UK at the University of York^[28] University of Leicester, Department of Chemistry and MRes in Green Chemistry at Imperial College London. In Spain different universities like the Universidad de Jaume I^[29] or the Universidad de Navarra,^[30] offer Green Chemistry master courses. There are also websites focusing on green chemistry, such as the Michigan Green Chemistry Clearinghouse at www.migreenchemistry.org.

Apart from its Green Chemistry Master courses the Zurich University of Applied Sciences ZHAW presents an exposition and web page "Making chemistry green" for a broader public, illustrating the 12 principles.^[31]

Scientific journals specialized in green chemistry

• Green Chemistry (RSC)
• ChemSusChem (Wiley)
• ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering (ACS)

Controversy

Following historical analyses of the green chemistry development, there have been green chemistry advocates who see it as an innovative way of thinking. On the other hand, there have been chemists who have argued that green chemistry is no more than a public relations label. In fact, a lot of chemists use the term "green chemistry" independently from the green chemistry paradigm, as proposed by Anastas and Warner. This explains the uncertainty of the scientific status of green chemistry.^[32]

Awards

Many scientific societies have created awards to encourage research in green chemistry.

• Australia’s Green Chemistry Challenge Awards overseen by The Royal Australian Chemical Institute (RACI).
• The Canadian Green Chemistry Medal.^[33]
• In Italy, Green Chemistry activities center around an inter-university consortium known as INCA.^[34]
• In Japan, The Green & Sustainable Chemistry Network oversees the GSC awards program.^[35]
• In the United Kingdom, the Green Chemical Technology Awards are given by Crystal Faraday.^[36]
• In the US, the Presidential Green Chemistry Challenge Awards recognize individuals and businesses.^[37][38]

Environmental engineering science

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Students in Environmental Engineering Science typically combine scientific studies of the biosphere with mathematical, analytical and design tools found in the engineering fields

Environmental engineering science (EES) is a multidisciplinary field of engineering science that combines the biological, chemical and physical sciences with the field of engineering. This major traditionally requires the student to take many basic engineering classes in fields such as thermodynamics, advanced math, computer modeling and simulation as well as technical classes in subjects such as statics, mechanics, hydrology, and fluid dynamics. As the student progresses, the upper division elective classes define a specific field of study for the student with a choice in a wide range of science, technology and engineering related classes.^[1]

Difference with related fields

Graduates of Environmental Engineering Science can go on to work on the technical aspects of designing a Living Roof like the one pictured here at the California Academy of the Sciences

As a recently created program, environmental engineering science has not yet been incorporated into the terminology found among environmentally focused professionals . It should be noted in the few engineering colleges that offer this major, the curriculum shares more classes in common with environmental engineering than it does with environmental science. Typically, EES students follow a similar course curriculum with environmental engineers until their fields diverge during the last year of college. While, a majority of the environmental engineering students must take classes designed to connect their knowledge of the environment to modern building materials and construction methods. This is meant to steer the environmental engineer into a field where they will more than likely assist in building treatment facilities, preparing environmental impact assessments or helping to mitigate air pollution from specific point sources.

Meanwhile, the environmental engineering science student will choose a direction for their career. From the wide range of electives they have to choose from, these students can move into a wide range of fields in anything from the design of nuclear storage facilities, bacterial bioreactors or environmental policies. With this in mind, it is important to note that these students combine the practical design background of an engineer with the detailed theory found in many of the biological and physical sciences. In other words, these students have the capabilities to imagine, design and build ideas from many interconnected disciplines concerned with the healthy fate of our environment.

Description at universities

UC Berkeley

The College of Engineering at UC Berkeley defines Environmental Engineering Science as follows^[1]

This is a multidisciplinary field requiring an integration of physical, chemical and biological principles with engineering analysis for environmental protection and restoration. The program incorporates courses from many departments on campus to create a discipline that is rigorously based in science and engineering, while addressing a wide variety of environmental issues. Although an environmental engineering option exists within the civil engineering major, the engineering science curriculum provides a more broadly based foundation in the sciences than is possible in civil engineering. This major prepares the student for a career or graduate study in many environmental areas.

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

At MIT, the major is described in their curriculum and says^[2]

The Bachelor of Science in Environmental Engineering Science emphasizes the fundamental physical, chemical, and biological processes necessary for understanding the interactions between man and the environment. Issues considered include the provision of clean and reliable water supplies, flood forecasting and protection, development of renewable and nonrenewable energy sources, causes and implications of climate change, and the impact of human activities on natural cycles. Both programs provide awareness of the sociopolitical context in which civil and environmental engineering problems are solved. Premedical students may satisfy medical school entrance requirements while earning the accredited degree in environmental engineering science with proper planning of their program.

Wet labs are required as part of the lower division curriculum

Lower division coursework

Lower division coursework in this field requires the student to take several laboratory-based classes in calculus-based physics, chemistry, biology, programming and analysis. This is intended to give the student background information in order to introduce them to the engineering fields as well as prepare them for more technical information in their upper division coursework.

Upper division coursework

Students learn to integrate their advanced knowledge of math and statistics with software such to perform analysis of physical systems like the Finite Element Analysis shown above

The upper division classes in Environmental Engineering Science prepares the student for work in the fields of engineering and science with coursework in (but not limited to) the following subjects^[1]

• Fluid mechanics
• Mechanics of materials
• Thermodynamics
• Environmental engineering
• Advanced math and statistics
• Geology
• Physical, organic and atmospheric chemistry
• Biochemistry
• Microbiology
• Ecology

Electives

Process engineering

On this track, students are introduced to the fundamental reaction mechanisms in the field of chemical and biochemical engineering. See also Process engineering

• 

  Designing a better catalyst for use with biofuels
• 

  Considering a cleaner process for coal gasification
• 

  Using more waste heat from power plants with better heat exchangers

Resource engineering

For this track, students are encouraged to take classes introducing them to various ways to conserve natural resources. This can include but is not limited to classes in water chemistry, sanitation, combustion, air pollution and radioactive waste management.

• 

  Using design knowledge to make better wastewater treatment facilities
• 

  Designing a safe way to store nuclear waste
• 

  Design ways to effectively deal with industrial waste

Geoengineering

This gives the student an in-depth look at geoengineering.

• 

  Figuring out what to do with emissions in a large scale
• 

  Sequestering carbon from the atmosphere
• 

  Figuring out what to do with rising levels of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere

Ecology

Prepares the students for using their engineering and scientific know how to solve the interactions between plants, animals and the biosphere.

• 

  How to alter certain biologic interactions in order to optimize the survival of the system
• 
• 

  Examining how the harvesting of kelp effects the sea otter population

Biology

Gives the environmental engineering science student a more advanced knowledge of microbial, molecular and cell biology. Classes can include cell biology, virology, microbial and plant biology

• 

  Understanding the way in which viruses function in order to safely sanitize water supplies
• 

  Understanding the metabolism of bacteria in order to see how their proliferation effects the climate
• 

  Using the biological design of chloroplasts to design a more effective way of turning solar energy into future sources of power

Policy

Gives the students a more rigorous look at ways improve our environment through political means. This is done by introducing students to both qualitative and quantitative tools in classes such as economics, sociology, political science as well as energy and resources.

• 

  Studying politics in an effort to understand and influence environmental policy
• 

  Learning about economics to determine the financial burden it might take to implement an "environmentally friendly" technology
• 

  Observing groups and learning the way that "greener" ideas might get passed between people

Post graduation work

The multidisciplinary approach in Environmental Engineering Science gives the student expertise in a wide variety of technical fields related to their own personal interest. While many graduates choose to use this major to go to graduate school,^[1] students who choose to work often go into the fields of civil and environmental engineering, biotechnology, and research. However, the less technical math, programming and writing background gives the students opportunities to pursue IT work and technical writing.

Cosmic Consciousness

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Cosmic Consciousness: A Study in the Evolution of the Human Mind (1901) is a book written by Richard Maurice Bucke, a Canadian psychiatrist. In this book, he explored the concept of Cosmic Consciousness, which he defined as "a higher form of consciousness than that possessed by the ordinary man."

Forms of consciousness

In Cosmic Consciousness, Bucke stated that he discerned three forms, or degrees, of consciousness:^[1]

• Simple consciousness, possessed by both animals and mankind
• Self-consciousness, possessed by mankind, encompassing thought, reason, and imagination
• Cosmic consciousness, a consciousness of the life and order of the universe which is possessed by few men at present. It is a further stage of human evolution which will be reached by all humanity in the future.^[2]

According to Bucke,

This consciousness shows the cosmos to consist not of dead matter governed by unconscious, rigid, and unintending law; it shows it on the contrary as entirely immaterial, entirely spiritual and entirely alive; it shows that death is an absurdity, that everyone and everything has eternal life; it shows that the universe is God and that God is the universe, and that no evil ever did or ever will enter into it; a great deal of this is, of course, from the point of view of self consciousness, absurd; it is nevertheless undoubtedly true.^[3]

Moores said that Bucke's cosmic consciousness is an interconnected way of seeing things "which is more of an intuitive knowing than it is a factual understanding."^[4] Moores pointed out that, for scholars of the purist camp, the experience of cosmic consciousness is incomplete without the element of love, "which is the foundation of mystical consciousness":^[5]

Mysticism, then, is the perception of the universe and all of its seemingly disparate entities existing in a unified whole bound together by love.^[6]

Juan A. Herrero Brasas said that Bucke's cosmic consciousness refers to the evolution of the intellect, and not to "the ineffable revelation of hidden truths."^[7] According to Brasas, it was William James who equated Bucke's cosmic consciousness with mystical experience or mystical consciousness.^[7]

Bucke identified only male examples of cosmic consciousness. He believed that women were not likely to have it.^[8] (However, there are some women amongst the 'additional cases' listed in the second half of the book.)

He regarded Walt Whitman as "the climax of religious evolution and the harbinger of humanity's future."^[9]

Similar concepts

William James

According to Michael Robertson, Cosmic Consciousness and William James's book The Varieties of Religious Experience have much in common:^[10]

Both Bucke and James argue that all religions, no matter how seemingly different, have a common core; both believe that it is possible to identify this core by stripping away institutional accretions of dogma and ritual and focusing on individual experience; and both identify mystical illumination as the foundation of all religious experience.^[10]

James popularized the concept of religious experience,^{[note 1]} which he explored in The Varieties of Religious Experience.^[12][13] He saw mysticism as a distinctive experience which supplies knowledge of the transcendental.^[14] He considered the "personal religion"^[15] to be "more fundamental than either theology or ecclesiasticism",^[15] and states:

In mystic states we both become one with the Absolute and we become aware of our oneness. This is the everlasting and triumphant mystical tradition, hardly altered by differences of clime or creed. In Hinduism, in Neoplatonism, in Sufism, in Christian mysticism, in Whitmanism, we find the same recurring note, so that there is about mystical utterances an eternal unanimity which ought to make a critic stop and think, and which bring it about that the mystical classics have, as been said, neither birthday not native land.^[16]

Regarding cosmic consciousness, William James, in his essay The Confidences of a "Psychical Researcher," wrote:

What again, are the relations between the cosmic consciousness and matter? ... So that our ordinary human experience, on its material as well as on its mental side, would appear to be only an extract from the larger psycho-physical world?^[17]

Collective consciousness

James understood "cosmic consciousness" to be a collective consciousness, a "larger reservoir of consciousness,"^[18] which manifests itself in the minds of men and remains intact after the dissolution of the individual. It may "retain traces of the life history of its individual emanation."^[18]

Friedrich Schleiermacher

A classification similar to that proposed by Bucke was used by the influential theologian Friedrich Schleiermacher (1768–1834), viz.:^[19]

• Animal, brutish self-awareness
• Sensual consciousness
• Higher self-consciousness

In Schleiermacher's theology, higher consciousness "is the part of the human being that is capable of transcending animal instincts."^[20] It is the "point of contact with God" and the essence of being human.^[20]

When higher consciousness is present, people are not alienated from God by their instincts.^[20] The relation between higher and lower consciousness is akin to St. Paul's "struggle of the spirit to overcome the flesh."^[20] Higher consciousness establishes a distinction between the natural and the spiritual sides of human beings.^[21]

The concept of religious experience was used by Schleiermacher and by Albert Ritschl to defend religion against scientific and secular criticism and to defend the belief that moral and religious experiences justify religious beliefs.^[13]

Wayne Proudfoot (1939 – ), a 20th-century theologian, traced the roots of the notion of religious experience to Schleiermacher, who had argued that religion is based on a feeling of the infinite.

Other writers

Cosmic consciousness bears similarity to Hegel's Geist:^[22][23]

All this seems to force upon us an interpretation of Hegel that would understand his term "min"' as some kind of cosmic consciousness; not, of course, a traditional conception of God as a being separate from the universe, but rather as something more akin to those eastern philosophies that insist that All is One.^[23]

Teilhard de Chardin's concept of the noösphere also bears similarity to Bucke's ideas.^{[citation needed]}
According to Paul Marshall, a philosopher of religion, cosmic consciousnes bears resemblances to some traditional pantheist beliefs.^[24]

According to Ervin László, cosmic consciousness corresponds to Jean Gebser's integral consciousness and to Don Edward Beck and Christopher Cowan's turquoise state of cosmic spirituality.^[25]

Influence

Some modern psychologists and theologians have made reference to Bucke’s work. They include Erich Fromm,^{[citation needed]} Robert S. de Ropp,^{[citation needed]} and Abraham Maslow.^{[citation needed]}

Others who have used the concept of cosmic consciousness, as introduced by Bucke in 1901, include Albert Einstein,^{[citation needed]} Pierre Teilhard de Chardin,^{[citation needed]} and Alan Watts.^{[citation needed]}

Many of those who have used psychedelic drugs, such as LSD^[26] and psilocybin, have said that they have experienced cosmic consciousness.

See also

Concepts Collective unconscious Higher consciousness Omega point Peak experience Religious experience Spiritual enlightenment Spiritual evolution

Models Axial Age Fowler's stages of faith development Great chain of being Spiral Dynamics

Persons Alan Watts Aurobindo Carl Jung Jean Gebser Ken Wilber

Movements New Age New Thought Theosophy Transcendentalism Transpersonal psychology

Related topics Materialism Mysticism Nondualism Physicalism Spirituality