The Music of the Heavens: Kepler's Harmonic Astronomy (Princeton Legacy Library) - Brossura

Stephenson, Bruce

Brossura

ISBN 10: 0691605963 ISBN 13: 9780691605968

Casa editrice: Princeton University Press, 2014

Riassunto

Valued today for its development of the third law of planetary motion, Harmonice mundi (1619) was intended by Kepler to expand on ancient efforts to discern a Creator's plan for the planetary system--an arrangement thought to be based on harmonic relationships. Challenging critics who characterize Kepler's theories of harmonic astronomy as "mystical," Bruce Stephenson offers the first thorough technical analysis of the music the astronomer thought the heavens made, and the logic that led him to find musical patterns in his data. In so doing, Stephenson illuminates crucial aspects of Kepler's intellectual development, particularly his ways of classifying and drawing inferences.

Beginning with a survey of similar theories associating music with the cyclic motions of planets, from Plato to Boethius, the author highlights Ptolemy's Harmonics, a source of inspiration for Kepler's later work. Turning to Kepler himself, Stephenson gives an account of his polyhedral theory, which explains the number and sizes of the planetary orbits in terms of the five regular poly-hedral. He then examines in detail an early theory that relates the planets' vel-ocities to a musical chord, and analyzes Kepler's unpublished commentary on Ptolemy's Harmonics. Devoting most of his attention to Book Five of Harmonice mundi, in which Kepler elaborated on the musical structure of the planetary system, Stephenson lays important groundwork for any further evaluation of Kepler's scientific thought.

Originally published in 1994.

The Princeton Legacy Library uses the latest print-on-demand technology to again make available previously out-of-print books from the distinguished backlist of Princeton University Press. These editions preserve the original texts of these important books while presenting them in durable paperback and hardcover editions. The goal of the Princeton Legacy Library is to vastly increase access to the rich scholarly heritage found in the thousands of books published by Princeton University Press since its founding in 1905.

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Recensione:

Honorable Mention for the 1994 Award for Best Professional/Scholarly Book in Physics and Astronomy, Association of American Publishers

"By 1618, Kepler had discovered his harmonic (or third) law of planetary motions. . . . Bruce Stephenson writes with great clarity and precision and leads the reader confidently through this rather complex byway of astronomical history. . . . Kepler's polyhedral theory of planetary distances is then studied in detail, followed by the core of the book: a thorough investigation of Kepler's musical harmonies of the heavens." --New Scientist

Contenuti:

	Preface and Acknowledgments
Ch. I	Introduction	3
Ch. II	Earlier Theories of Astronomical Harmony	16
Ch. III	Jofrancus Offusius: Scientific Astrology Based on Harmony	47
Ch. IV	Distances to the Planets	64
Ch. V	The Polyhedral Theory of the Mysterium cosmographicum	75
Ch. VI	Kepler's First Harmonic Planetary Theory	90
Ch. VII	The Reconstruction of Ptolemy's Harmonics	98
Ch. VIII	The Harmonice mundi	118
Ch. IX	Book 5 of the Harmonice mundi	128
Ch. 1	Regular Polyhedra	130
Ch. 2	Harmonic Proportions	131
Ch. 3	Astronomical Theory	135
Ch. 4	The Proper and Extreme Harmonies	145
Ch. 5	The Music of the Planetary Motions	154
Ch. 6	Heavenly Modes	165
Ch. 7	Universal Harmonies	170
Ch. 8	The Four Voices of Celestial Harmony	184
Ch. 9	The Causes of the Eccentricities	185
Ch. 10	Inhabitants of the Sun	236
Ch. X	Conclusions	242
	Bibliography	253
	Index	257

Su questa edizione

• Editore: Princeton University Press
• Data di pubblicazione: 2014
• ISBN 10: 0691605963
• ISBN 13: 9780691605968
• Rilegatura: Copertina flessibile
• Numero di pagine: 272