Pythagorean philosophy

Pythagoras taught not only the magic of numbers but also the healing power of music (Music). He taught of the "Music of the Spheres" and how the movement of the heavenly bodies could be perceived and reflected in the intervals of plucked strings.

The Pythagoreans built up an elaborate number lore, but the numbers that impressed them most were those found in musical ratios (Calter). In the frontispiece from a 1492 book on music theory, there is a picture of Jubal, from the Old Testament, and 6 men beating an anvil with hammers numbered 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, and 16. The frames show Pythagoras hitting bells, plucking strings under different tensions, tapping glasses filled to different levels, and all are marked 4, 6, 8, 9, 12, 16. In each frame he sounds the ones marked 8 and 16, an interval of 1:2, which represents an octave, or diapason. In a different part of the frame, Philolaos blows pipes of lengths 8 and 16, again an octave apart, and Pythagoras holds pipes, 9 and 12, giving the ratio 3:4, called the fourth or

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n planetary motion (Music). Traditional astronomy recognizes five traditional relationships based on the twelve divisions of the zodiac (Plant). Ptolemy taught that their significance came from the analogy with the ratios of the musical scale. The conjunction is equal to the same two notes played in unison. The opposition divides the circle in the ratio 1:2, which corresponds to the octave. The sextile (5:6) corresponds to a minor third; the square (3:4) corresponds to a perfect fourth; and the trine (2:3) corresponds to a perfect fifth. Kepler placed less emphasis on zodiac signs and explored additional aspect relationships in pursuing Pythagorean synthesis of music, geometry and astronomy. Kepler was a profound mystic. Like Plato and Pythagoras, Kepler believed the world was ruled by numbers, and he tried to prove that the distances of the planets from the sun were given by an arrangement of Euclid's five regular solids. He believed that by doing so, he could demonstrate the order of the mind of God. He also believed that musical harmony, expressed mathematically, was the same as the harmony of the spheres. He believed further that each planet sings a characteristic tune, and that by using calculations involving t
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Approximate Pages = 5 (250 words per page)

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