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Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics Andrew Barker (University of Birmingham)

Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics By Andrew Barker (University of Birmingham)

Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics by Andrew Barker (University of Birmingham)


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Summary

This book examines Ptolemy's scientific procedures for investigating the structures underlying musical melody. By providing an analysis of Ptolemy's theoretical apparatus, his strategies for integrating theory with observation, and his instructions for the design and conduct of experiments, the book offers a starting point for studying ancient scientific method.

Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics Summary

Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics by Andrew Barker (University of Birmingham)

The science called 'harmonics' was one of the major intellectual enterprises of Greek antiquity. Ptolemy's treatise seeks to invest it with new scientific rigour; its consistently sophisticated procedural self-awareness marks it as a key text in the history of science. This book is a sustained methodological exploration of Ptolemy's project. After an analysis of his explicit pronouncements on the science's aims and the methods appropriate to it, it examines Ptolemy's conduct of his investigation in detail, concluding that despite occasional uncertainties, the declared procedure is followed with remarkable fidelity. Ptolemy pursues tenaciously his novel objective of integrating closely the project's theoretical and empirical phases and shows astonishing mastery of the concept, the design and the conduct of controlled experimental tests. By opening up this neglected text to historians of science, the book aims to provide a point of departure for wider studies of Greek scientific method.

Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics Reviews

'Barker has produced an engaging and richly nuanced account of the Harmonics as an argument for understanding Ptolemy as a scientist with a 'method', a method which demands reliance on both perception and reason. Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics will interest a wide range of readers, particularly those concerned with ancient science, the role of experimentation and the philosophy of mathematics.' British Journal of Philosophy of Science

Table of Contents

Preface; 1. Introduction; 2. Reason and perception; 3. Pitch and quantity; 4. The ratios of the concords: (1) the Pythagoreans; 5. The ratios of the concords: (2) Ptolemy's hupotheseis; 6. Critique of Aristoxenian principles and conclusions; 7. Ptolemy on the harmonic divisions of his predecessors; 8. Melodic intervals: hupotheseis, derivations and adjustments; 9. Larger systems: modulations in music and in method; 10. The instruments; 11. The tests; 12. Harmonics in a wider perspective; Bibliography; Indexes.

Additional information

NPB9780521553728
9780521553728
0521553725
Scientific Method in Ptolemy's Harmonics by Andrew Barker (University of Birmingham)
New
Hardback
Cambridge University Press
2001-01-11
290
N/A
Book picture is for illustrative purposes only, actual binding, cover or edition may vary.
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