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.
關於作者:
Jamie James was born in Houston Texas and is now the New York
Correspondant for The Times and frequently contributes to the New
York Times. He is a founding member of Discover and a contributing
editor of Archeology.