Myles Jackson (New York University), Harmonious Triads: Physicists, Musicians, and Instrument Markers in Ninteenth-Century Germany
Commentator: Shaul Katzir, Cohn Institute
Chair: Leo Corrie, Cohn Institute
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Within the framework of The Bar-Hillel Colloquium for the History, Philosophy and Sociology of Science 2012-2013 Gilman Building, Hall 449 In the nineteenth century, scientists were committed to understanding the world of performing musicians and their instruments. Musical instruments provided physicists with experimental systems, and physicists' research led directly to improvements in musical-instrument manufacture and assisted musicians in their performances. The lecture will present the collaborations of physicists and mechanicians aimed at standardizing beat and pitch and will consider debates stirred by the standardization of aesthetic qualities. It will conclude by asking whether physicists, using the universal principles of mechanics, could explain musical skill, and whether the virtuosity of a Paganini or a Liszt is somehow quantifiable. |