In existographies, Henry James (1843-1916) (CR:9) was an American-born English writer, brother of American reserve energy psychologist William James, noted for his 1904 novel The Golden Bowl, which is said to have been greatly influenced by German polymath Johann Goethe’s 1809 physical chemistry based novella Elective Affinities.

Goethe
Several noted Goethean scholars, including: Judith Ryan (1982), Joseph O'Leary (2005), and Jeremy Adler (2012), have produced papers on the Elective Affinities / The Golden Bowl overlap or relationship. [1] As summarized by Susan Winnett, via citation of Judith Ryan: [2]

“James read Die Wahlverwandtschaften in German during his stay in Bonn in 1860, and his lifelong interest in Goethe marks and exception to his general indifference to things German.”

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Adams
American historian Henry Adams’ famous third-person written The Education of Henry Adams, first self-published at his own expense, was first circulated among his connected friends, the first copies of which were printed in late 1906 and into 1907, of which an initial forty friends received copies, including: Henry James, senator Henry Cabot Lodge (president of the Massachusetts Historical Society), and Theodore Roosevelt, for comment and correction. Others soon wished for copies and Adams had an additional sixty copies printed and bound.

Quotes | On

The following are quotes on James:

“Concepts of physics are frequently misused by those whο become intoxicated by casual acquaintance with them. After Einstein discovered the principle of special relativity, college sophomores and trendy preachers cited the principle as "proof" that "everything is relative". And after Heisenberg discovered the uncertainty principle, social scientists, humanists, and theologians seized on it to "prove" that certain kinds of human knowledge are impossible. The concept of entropy and the associated second law of thermodynamics have yet a longer history of abuse -- even by physicists, who should know better. As far back as 1910, America's greatest philosopher -- William James -- felt the need to disabuse America's greatest novelist -- his brother Henry -- of the idea that the second law had portentous social implications.”
— Julian Simon (1991), “Entropy and Energy Accounting”

References
1. (a) Ryan, Judith (1982). “Elective Affinities: Goethe and Henry James.” Goethe Yearbook 1:153-71.
(b) O’Leary, Joseph S. (2005). “Goethe in ‘The Golden Bowl’”, Essays on Literary and Theological Themes, Jun 22.
(c) Goethe and Henry James (Jeremy Adler) – Wiko-Berlin.de.
2. (a) Winnett, Susan B. (1989). Terrible Sociability: the Text of Manners in Laclos, Goethe, and James (pg. 38). Stanford University Press.
(a) Ryan, Judith (1982). “Elective Affinities: Goethe and Henry James.” Goethe Yearbook 1:153-71.
(c) Ryan, Judith. (1983). “Views from the Summerhouse: Goethe’s Wahlverwandtschaften and its Literary Successors”, in: Goethe’s Narrative Fiction: the Irving Goethe Symposium, Volume 1982 (editor: William Lillyman) (pgs. 145-60). W. de Gruyter.
3. Simon, Julian. (1991). “Entropy and Energy Accounting: are They Relevant Concepts?” (Ѻ), Entropy, Jan 15.

External links
● Henry James – Wikipedia.
● The Golden Bowl – Wikipedia.