Kepler on planetary harmony. Musical scores and Latin text from Book V of 'Harmonices Mundi' (The Harmony of the World, 1619) by German mathematician


Kepler on planetary harmony. Musical scores and Latin text from Book V of 'Harmonices Mundi' (The Harmony of the World, 1619) by German mathematician and astronomer Johannes Kepler (1571-1630). From his study of musical harmony and geometry, Kepler developed his third law of planetary motion. Discussed here are harmonies for the five known planets: Saturn (Major Third), Jupiter (Minor Third), Mars (nearly a Diapente), Earth (Terra, a Semi-Tone), Venus (a Diesis), and Mercury (a Diapson and a Minor Third). The sixth scale shown here is for the Moon (a Diatessaron). Kepler obtained these harmonies by studying orbital data.


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