The Music of the Spheres; Music, Science, and the Natural Order of the Universe

by Jamie James

Book Overview

The parallel histories of music and science - from celestial harmony to cosmic dissonance. For centuries, scientists and philosophers believed that the universe was a stately, ordered mechanism, mathematical and musical. The perceived distances between objects in the sky mirrored (and were mirrored by) the spaces between notes that formed chords and scales. The smooth operation of the cosmos created a divine harmony that composers sought to capture...

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0387944745
• ISBN13: 9780387944746
• Release Date: April 1995
• Publisher: Copernicus Books
• Length: 264 Pages
• Weight: 0.96 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 6.2" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

The Classic Book for serious students/scholars

The Music of The Spheres is a Classic and must-have for those interested in the fields of Music, Physics, Mathematics and those in related fields. I got this book at a great price and very fast delivery.

Not a definitive exposition but a nice introduction

Jamie James did not write, in this work, the definitive exposition on The Music of the Spheres. What is contained in this work is, however, an excellent introduction into the topic in my opinion. Many of the key players are mentioned and a bit of biographical background information is presented with them which provides a good reference point for more reading. As a good introduction should, this book starts in the ancient past with Pythagoras and Plato and moves right up to the 20th century. There is a bit, perhaps, of editorial bias on some of the characters that have been involved in this topic throughout history; nevertheless, one is not put off on anyone mentioned by the book if someone decided they'd like more than an introductory course in the Music of the Spheres.As it was my intention, before even reading this book, to look deep into this subject, I was not put off at all by the historical coverage of the topic as opposed to a more practical treatment. It's not an in-depth practical work on the Music of the Spheres, but as an introduction to the topic and coverage of some of the historical and biographical background, I was not left disappointed. A very interesting read, it fueled the desire to look deeper into the subject and helped shed a little background and perspective on a few of the historical figures connected with the topic. Worth the read, even twice.

Fabulous!

Get inside the mind of Pitagoras and Plato and discover an extraordinary interpretation of music. Then drift away through Reinassence Science till the XX century and find how connected the universe, the music and the human mind are. Music can even start a rebellion, as it happened in Belgica.

A beautifully written history of music and science.

This is a beautifully written exposition of both the harmony between music and science before the Renaissance, and the separation of the two into divergent disciplines after. James captures the beauty of the beliefs of the early musician-scientists, and how their contemplations sought to explain the meaning of life, God, and (like the Unification Theory of today) all existence. It is a fascinating story of how, one by one, scientific proofs separated science from the arts as knowledge increased. The book is well-explained, stimulating to the higher brain, and soothing to the lower brain. (Sorry, but if you get that, then you get it--and the book.) A rare non-fiction in that I never put it down.