Harmonious Triads

Historically, music was long classified as both art and science. Aspects of
music--from the mathematics of tuning to the music of the celestial spheres--were primarily studied
as science until the seventeenth century. In the nineteenth century, although scientists were less
interested in the music of the spheres than the natural philosophers of earlier centuries, they
remained committed to understanding the world of performing musicians and their instruments. In
Harmonious Triads, Myles Jackson analyzes the relationship of physicists, musicians, and instrument
makers in nineteenth-century Germany. Musical instruments provided physicists with experimental
systems, and physicists' research led directly to improvements in musical-instrument manufacture and
assisted musicians in their performances. Music also provided scientists with a cultural resource,
which forged acquaintances and future collaborations.Jackson discusses experiments in acoustical
vibrations that led to the invention of musical instruments and describes work with adiabatic
phenomena that resulted in the improvement of the reed pipe, used by organ builders. He examines the
collaborations of physicists and mechanicians aimed at standardizing beat and pitch and considers
debates stirred by the standardization of aesthetic qualities. He describes the importance for
scientists of choral societies as a vehicle for social life and cultural unity. Finally, he
discusses a subject that occupied both physicists and musicians of the era: Could physicists, using
the universal principles of mechanics, explain musical skill? Was the virtuosity of a Paganini or a
Liszt somehow quantifiable? Jackson's historical consideration of questions at the intersection of
music and physics shows us how each discipline helped shape the other.