Gurdjieff and Contemporary Physics and Chemistry

James Webb stated that the source of Gurdjieff’s ideas could be discerned, and that the enquiry helped interpret his method. He purported to identify Blavatsky’s Theosophy as an important source. I contend that the features Webb appeals to for this identification are better understood as hailing from nineteenth century chemistry and science more generally, both ante- and postdating Blavatsky’s work. I suggest that Gurdjieff’s system owed much to his wide reading in contemporary science, including Prout’s theory of hydrogen as the fundamental element, and the discovery of the electron. The essence of Gurdjieff’s system starts to appear more European than usually thought.