Louis Bolk (1866-1930) was a professor of anatomy and embryology at the University of Amsterdam. He developed and employed comparative scientific methods of investigation that conveyed new insights into his subjects and is the pioneer of the principle of neoteny (also called the fetalization theory).
 

Neoteny describes how certain characteristics in the human organism rather stay underdeveloped compared to for instance the apes, remaining true to their embryologic shape. Good examples are the embryologic shape of the head and the relative position of the foramen magnum in humans compared to apes. With the insights he gained, he could put his subjects into a meaningful context.

To employ his method, he instructed his students to use the “macroscope” rather than the microscope!
 

“We are accustomed to explore the world through magnifying glasses [to study details] [...] how completely different, how much broader would our perspective on life be, if we were to study it through a macroscope. We could then enlarge our view from what is incomprehensible detail to the unwitting eye, and … make the coherence of phenomena our study goal.”
 

When searching for answers to our questions, we found professor Bolk’s contribution to scientific methodology so important that we named our research group after him. We developed a methodology we now call the 4-step approach, based on Bolk’s and Goethe’s findings. We think that in the many facts and details of today’s medical science, this approach helps us to retrieve coherence, insight into psychosomatics, and wholeness in science.

And we also apply it in our daily practices!

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Literature:

Verhulst, J. (1993). Louis Bolk revisited II—Retardation,
hypermorphosis and body proportions of humans. Medical
Hypotheses, 41(2), 100–114. https://doi.org/10.1016/0306-9877(93)90054-T