Summary Of Stephon Alexander S The Jazz Of Physics

More than fifty years ago, John Coltrane drew the twelve musical notes in a circle and connected them by straight lines, forming a five-pointed star. Inspired by Einstein, Coltrane put physics and geometry at the core of his music. Physicist and jazz musician Stephon Alexander follows suit, using jazz to answer physics' most vexing questions about the past and future of the universe. Following the great minds that first drew the links between music and physics-a list including Pythagoras, Kepler, Newton, Einstein, and Rakim-The Jazz of Physics reveals that the ancient poetic idea of the Music of the Spheres," taken seriously, clarifies confounding issues in physics. The Jazz of Physics will fascinate and inspire anyone interested in the mysteries of our universe, music, and life itself.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The exchange of music between the Caribbean and New York City was dynamic at the time, and Trinidadian artists were recording in New York City. My mother’s plans for me to study classical music and become a concert pianist began even before my parents and siblings left Trinidad to stay with her for a few years when I was eight. #2 I was interested in how music worked rather than learning to play others’ compositions. I felt that those moments of contemplation stretched into what felt timeless. I wanted to know more. #3 I had a room in the attic of my home that became my mad scientist lab, where I would experiment with music. I would play the radio stations that were popular with seventh-graders, but one night, I stumbled upon a new station. #4 Music is a physical event, and like most nontrivial physical systems, it has structure. It is defined by tone, meter, rhythm, pitch, melody, and harmony.

In this "captivating" (Sky + Telescope) book, a top cosmologist argues that physics must embrace the excluded and listen to the unheard When asked by legendary theoretical physicist Christopher Isham why he had attended graduate school, cosmologist Stephon Alexander answered: "To become a better physicist." As a young student, he could hardly have anticipated Isham's response: "Then stop reading those physics books." Instead, Isham said, Alexander should start listening to his dreams. This is only the first of the many lessons in Fear of a Black Universe. As Alexander explains, greatness in physics requires transgression, a willingness to reject conventional expectations. He shows why progress happens when some physicists come to think outside the mainstream, and why, as in great jazz, great physics requires a willingness to make things up as one goes along. Compelling and necessary, Fear of a Black Universe offers us remarkable insight into the art of physics and empowers us all to think big.

"A theoretical physicist and jazz musician combines his two loves to present a new theory of the universe: sound as the link between Einstein's relativity with quantum mechanics, "--Amazon.com.

Using musical examples from Bach to the Beatles, Levitin reveals the role of music in human evolution, shows how our musical preferences begin to form even before we are born and explains why music can offer such an emotional experience. Music is an obsession at the heart of human nature, even more fundamental to our species than language. In This Is Your Brain On Music Levitin offers nothing less than a new way to understand it, and its role in human life

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Sample Book Insights: #1 The anomalies of dark matter and dark energy are not the only ones shaking the foundations of physics. There are also several other deviations from our accepted theories of physics, which generate speculations that are not seen in experiments. #2 I want to take you with me as I try to answer some of these questions. To do this, I will provide both the necessary background and the conceptual tools needed to understand some of the current physics. #3 I have navigated a career in physics in spite of racial and sociological prejudices, and I continue to share my conjectures, which, at least sometimes, are theoretically fruitful. #4 The expectations of what it means to do good science are often confused with specific theoretical orientations, which means that practitioners in subdisciplines are expected to uphold specific theoretical arguments. This is desirable, but it can also inhibit innovation and progress.

Free Jazz: A Research and Information Guide offers carefully selected and annotated sources on free jazz, with comprehensive coverage of English-language academic books, journal articles, and dissertations, and selective coverage of trade books, popular periodicals, documentary films, scores, Masters’ theses, online texts, and materials in other languages. Free Jazz will be a major reference tool for students, faculty, librarians, artists, scholars, critics, and serious fans navigating this literature.