Harmonograph

Auteur

Anthony Ashton is a journalist and economist. A lifelong interest in the building blocks of the sciences led him to the Harmonograph, a Victorian machine which draws musical intervals. After building a few in his garage, he wrote this book.

Texte du rabat

During the nineteenth century, a remarkable scientific instrument known as a harmonograph revealed the beautiful patterns found in music. Harmonograph is an introduction to the evolution of simple harmonic theory, from the discoveries of Pythagoras to diatonic tuning and equal temperament. Beautiful drawings show the octave as a triangle, the fifth as a pentagram; diagrams show the principles of harmonics, overtones, and the monochord. Anthony Ashton examines the phenomenon of resonance in Chladni patterns, describes how to build a harmonograph of your own, and provides tables of world tuning systems. This inspiring book will appeal to musicians, mathematicians, designers, and artists alike.