The German scientist and philosopher Gotthilf Heinrich von Schubert (1780-1860) studied theology and medicine, but gave up his medical practice to teach natural history at Erlangen and Munich, specialising in botany, forestry and mineralogy. He also gave public lectures on topics including animal magnetism, clairvoyance and dreams, and strove to develop an understanding of the cosmos that could reconcile Enlightenment philosophy with Christian faith. This 1814 study of the symbolism of dreams was highly regarded in its day, and its influence extended to the works of Freud and Jung nearly a century later. Schubert considers the working of the mind in the state between waking and sleeping, and proposes that dreams and their symbols, not being bound by language, are universally comprehensible. His book focuses mainly on those dreams that, in his view, lead to prophetic insights and an experience of the divine presence.