@Elessar There's a very good book "Fads and Fallacies in the Name of Science" by Martin Gardner, I think from 1952, about science crackpots of all sorts. Highly recommended; it contains a full chapter about Reich. There are three theories about that guy: a) He's the greatest scientist of all time b) He was an important left-wing psychoanalist who became mad later in his life c) He's always been mad, and it only became apparent when he proposed the "orgon accumalator".
@helenS Regarding Reich, I subscribe to theory b). I think he had some useful, valid ideas about the relationship between psychologic distress and locked-in muscle tension as well as the possibility of relieving mental stress using physical manipulation. I have received some 'Reichian massage' myself and found it useful.
Sadly his theories became more & more outlandish and he descended into complete madness. It's a thing that's not all that uncommon with psychologists, I think.
@Really Wilhelm Reich's contributions to humanity are outstanding. He was a socialist, a feminist, a supporter of sexual freedom, and his book "Mass Psychology of Fascism" is probably one of the most important works in the field. He was way ahead of is time, and, as a result, he was ostracized from the psychoanalytic circle due to his political activities. He became more and more isolated. And science does not grow in isolation (cf. Dr. Faustus). Science has always been the product of interacting communities (I've been a member of one, in a former life), and there was simply no community for his research at that time. So – for lack of an existing community, he created on himself. The other members of his community were mere acolytes who ate everything he said. ==> Isolation leads to madness.
