The Music of Pythagoras - Kitty Ferguson

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The Music of Pythagoras

How an Ancient Brotherhood Cracked the Code of the Universe and Lit the Path from Antiquity to Oute

Walker & Company, April 2008
ISBN: 978-0-8027-1631-6, ISBN10: 0-8027-1631-8,
6 1/8 x 9 1/4 inches, 384 pages, 25 b&w illus. throughout,
Hardcover, $26.95

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See All Categories Mathematics & Statistics Mathematics & Statistics - All Titles

Though most people know of Pythagoras only for the famous Pythagorean Theorem (a2 +b2=c2), in fact, the pillars of our scientific tradition—the beliefs that the universe is rational, that there is unity to all things, and that numbers and mathematics are a guide to truth about nature and the cosmos—hark back to the convictions of this legendary sixth-century B.C. scholar.

Born around 570 B.C. on the Aegean island of Samos, Pythagoras (according to ancient tales) studied with the sage Thales nearby at Miletus, and with priests and scribes in Egypt and Babylon. Eventually, he founded his own school at Croton in southern Italy, where he and his followers, the Pythagoreans, began to unravel the complex truths concealed within such ordinary tasks as tuning a lyre. While considering why some string lengths produced beautiful sounds and others discordant ones, they uncovered the ratios of musical harmony, and recognized that orderly patterns and relationships exist in the confusion and complexity of nature. Some of them would go on to discover unresolved irrationality in numbers and nature. The revelation was so unsettling and subversive that it may have contributed to the destruction of their brotherhood.

Praised for her ability to illuminate complex subjects, Kitty Ferguson evokes the archaic world of Pythagoras. She shows how his ideas spread in antiquity. She chronicles the influence he and his followers have had on so many influential people in the history of Western thought and science. She brings a poignant human story to readers who are reminded daily that harmony and chaos can and do coexist.

Praise

"A stimulating, wide-ranging look at how the Greek mathematician and philosopher's key insights have been at the heart of an enormous range of subsequent thought."—Kirkus Reviews

"Through the insightful eyes of popular science writer Ferguson, readers glimpse the enormous impact of the Greek mathematician and philosopher Pythagoras and his followers and the ideas gathered around them. She describes the mythology that surrounded Pythagoras, as well as the facts behind the man, and how those myths changed over time but continued to influence natural inquiry. Covering thinkers from Aristotle to Kepler, Ferguson shows how Pythagorean themes played a role in their developing new ideas. This work is a joy to read."—Library Journal

"The task Ferguson takes on is formidable: to describe not only the ancient Greek mathematician and mystic Pythagoras, but also the entire sweep of the Pythagorean legacy, from his time to ours . . . she has largely succeeded. This chatty and readable account bites off great chunks of history and science, from Platonists to string theory . . . Best when she comes on like a good friend bursting with some amazing thing she can't wait to share (the passages on Bertrand Russell are particularly sharp and funny) . . . the book is winning [and] accessible."—Publishers Weekly

About the Author(s)

Kitty Ferguson

Kitty Ferguson is the author of Tycho & Kepler, Measuring the Universe, The Fire in the Equations, and Stephen Hawking: Quest for a Theory of Everything. She is also a Juilliard-trained professional musician, and lives in New Jersey.