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SUMMARY:The logarithmic ear: Pietro Mengoli\, music\, mathematics and anat
 omy in the late seventeenth century - Benjamin Wardhaugh\,  University of 
 Oxford
DTSTART:20060515T120000Z
DTEND:20060515T131500Z
UID:TALK5001@talks.cam.ac.uk
CONTACT:Francis Lucian Reid
DESCRIPTION:In 1670 the Bolognese mathematician Pietro Mengoli published h
 is Speculationi di musica\, a highly original work attempting to found the
  mathematical study of music on the anatomy of the ear. His anatomy was id
 iosyncratic and his mathematics complex beyond belief\,\nleading him to as
 sert for example that the soul computes a definite integral every time a s
 ound is heard. He analysed in detail the supposed behaviour of the ear's i
 nternal aura\, and the patterns of strokes made on the eardrum by simultan
 eous sounds\, and divided the musical octave into a continuous set of regi
 ons which he colour-coded to show their physiological effects.\n\nThe hand
 ful of scholars in and around the Royal Society who eagerly awaited its fi
 rst appearance seem to have found the Speculationi baffling\, as do its fe
 w modern readers. In the light of my Ph.D. research on mathematical music 
 theories of the period I will attempt\nto illuminate some of the work's ob
 scurities and explain why I find it both fascinating and important.\n
LOCATION:Seminar Room 1\, Department of History and Philosophy of Science
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