Nowadays there is a tension between science and religion which is scarcely capable of resolution. This has a long tradition, going back to Antiquity and the Middle Ages - as too does its counterpart, the integrative world-view in which knowing the forces of nature and recognising God are essential human tasks. The first volume of the new series Theophrastus-Paracelsus-Studies concerns itself with epochs and personalities in the history of ideas from Late Antiquity up to the present day devoted to integrating natural science and mysticism. Hildegard von Bingen, Jakob Böhme or Goethe as a scientist and philosopher provide the focus, as too do present-day innovative approaches to understanding mysticism such as psychology and parapsychology.