Customer Reviews

The Harmony of the World (Memoirs of the American Philosophical Society)

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This book is a thorough going treatment of the subject of Harmony. It contradicts Aristotle, who held science back for centuries because of his witting fraud upon the discoveries of Pythagoras, Thales, et al. Aristotle misrepresented the ideas concerning Music, Harmonics, Geometry as well as Astronomy, which Plato described in the Epinomis to be the fount of all knowledge. In this volume, Kepler proves that the pre-Aristotelean hypothesis of a helio-centric universe is correct, and provides the needed data to demonstrate that the planets arrange their orbits around the sun in the manner of a musical scale. Here one can understand the deeper meaning of Harmony, beyond what we hear in music. Kepler seeks out causes, in the musical domain, as well as in the astrophysical domain. Up to the time of this book, no one had solved the puzzle. This book is a work of genius.

The binding is held together very firmly and the translator's notes range from helpful to fascinating. This book is a "no brainer" must buy for students of 17th century German astronomy.

Today's scientists of all disciplines would do well to study Kepler's original work. This is not only a seminal work in the history of astronomy, but a case study in the creative process of discovery. By rejecting empiricism and sense certainty, Kepler used his mental instruments, geometry and music, to investigate the harmony which orders all fundamental physical processes. The same mental processes which make humans unique must be coherent with the principles of creation and development of the universe as a whole.

I bought this book as brand new and was surprised when it was delivered with a weird sticky substance in various places on the cover. In trying to remove the substance I only caused more damage to the cover. My three diamond rating is due to Kepler being awesome, not Amazon. If you buy this book brand new make sure it is in mint condition or get a compensation from Amazon.