Astronomy & Music: Introduction to the Duochord

Abstract

The ancient Pythagoreans envisioned the heavens as celestial spheres rotating according to harmonious music. For Robert Fludd, a seventeenth-century physician, the universe was a monochord, its physical structure unintelligible without an understanding of music. This OER shows high-quality images from Fludd's seventeenth-century work as well as an activity to explore the relationship between mathematics and music.