Edith Stein's life is a study in chiaroscuro. The contrasts of light and shadow are due largely to the changes that were taking place in Europe during her lifetime, but there were others also, those that occurred in her own personal life. In all of these she radiated a singular quality of light that was characteristic of her person. One constant that endured through all the changes was the intense intellectual energy and joy in learning that seem to have been rooted in the philosophical nature of her personality.