The Music Of The Spheres: Music, Science and the Natural Order of the Universe

Jamie James

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From the 5th century BC, when Pythagoras first composed his laws of Western music and science, until the flowering of Romanticism over 2000 years later, scientists and philosophers perceived the cosmos musically, as an ordered mechanism whose smooth operation created a celestial harmony - the music of the spheres. The separation of science and music began with the scientific revolution during the Renaissance, and reached a peak with Romanticism, which celebrated what was human, individual and local. 20th-century science and music, argues Jamie James in this book, have rejected the Romantic ideal and placed the ultimate focus outside the reach of human reason once again. The book provides a survey of the history of science and music, a reassessment of Romanticism and the modernist reaction to it, and a radical intellectual journey.

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Praise for The Music Of The Spheres: Music, Science and the Natural Order of the Universe

  • An unequivocal affirmation that music is no mere entertainment, but is vitally significant: an important adjunct in healing; an essential part of education. - SUNDAY TIMESA learned, sophisticated book, full of surprises. - FINANCIAL TIMESJames probes deeply into an undervalued question and left me wondering at the extent to which our whole view of reality- and what may lie beyond it- is being revolutionised. - NEW SCIENTISTExuberant and witty. - NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEWAn unequivocal affirmation that music is no mere entertainment, but is vitally significant: an important adjunct in healing; an essential part of education. - SUNDAY TIMESA learned, sophisticated book, full of surprises. - FINANCIAL TIMESJames probes deeply into an undervalued question and left me wondering at the extent to which our whole view of reality- and what may lie beyond it- is being revolutionised. - NEW SCIENTISTExuberant and witty. - NEW YORK TIMES BOOK REVIEW

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