Wilhelm Reich was a psychologist turned researcher in the 40's and 50's. In the late 50's he was arrested and imprisoned by the US government for ignoring an FDA ruling that outlawed one of his inventions. After Reich's arrest all of his books and research papers were burned by the US government. Yes, burned.

Reich's invention was called an orgone accumulator. An orgone accumulator is a box made from alternating organic and in-organic materials. The patient sits inside the box. It is postulated that a patient sitting inside the box will be filled with a tremendous sense of well being and experience shorter healing times. It sounds a little hookey to me, but on the other hand doesn't this device sound a little like a sauna? I want to build one of these boxes, just to try it out. It seems like the appropriate way to honor an idea considered so dangerous by the US government that research papers and books on the subject needed to be burned.

If somehow my short introduction to Reich caught your attention I suggest reading two books - 'Sexpolitique' and 'The Mass Psychology of Fascism'. The second book is a great read on mass psychology and politics, but it can be a little hard to understand without some background.

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