Magic enjoyed a vigorous revival in sixteenth-century Europe, attaining a prestige it had not held for over a millenium and becoming, for some, a kind of universal philosophy. Renaissance music also suggested a form of universal knowledge through…
"Professor of Music at Colgate University and a widely respected musicologist, Godwin here traces the idea, held since ancient times, that the whole cosmos is in some way a musical or harmonious entity."--Publisher's description.
Describes the legacy of Pythagoras, the ancient Greek mathematician and mystic who contemplated the order and symmetry behind musical beauty, discussing Platonists, string theory, and Bertrand Russell.