Notes to pages 114–124 297
- For Huygen ’ s work on music, see Cohen 1984 , 209 – 230. For the controversy about Huygen ’ s role in the
discovery of the pendulum watch, see Iliffe 1992, 39 – 52. - Dear 1988 , 139.
- Mersenne 1963 , 3:208.
- Ibid. Descartes (1996, 1:88, 102) mentions his “ little treatise ” (clearly the Compendium ) in two 1629 letters
to Mersenne. - See, e.g., Christensen 2002 , 249 – 252; 2011 ; Van Wymeersch 2011. For the perspectives of Hugo Riemann
and Heinrich Schenker, see Rehding 2003 ; Jonas 1982 , 18. - Mersenne 1963 , 3 ( “ Livre des instrumens de percussion ” ):36 – 37.
- Ibid. , 3:209.
- Ibid. , 3:211; Dear 1988 , 187 – 188. Cf. Darrigol 2012, vi, who judges that “ the basic concept of sound as a
compression wave was not available until the last third of the seventeenth century. ” - Mersenne 1963 , 3 ( “ Livre des instrumens de percussion ” ):37.
- For his work on organs, see Gauvin 2013. Cf. Darrigol 2012, 39 – 49, who considers that Descartes ’ s mechani-
cal medium theory of light “ needed neither sound nor waves ” (30). - Mersenne 1963 , 3 ( “ Livre des instrumens de percussion ” ):37 – 38; 1957 , 535 – 536.
- Mersenne 1963 , 3 ( “ Livre des instrumens de percussion ” ):36 – 37.
- Ibid., 37 – 38; Mersenne 1957 , 535 – 536. See also Beaulieu 1995 , 70 – 81. Maury 2003, 179 – 238, treats the
issue of the vacuum. - Mersenne 1957 , 3 ( “ Livre des instrumens de percussion ” ):8 – 39; Mersenne 1957 , 536 – 537.
- Mersenne 1957 , 3 ( “ Livre des instrumens de percussion ” ):8 – 39; Mersenne 1957 , 536 – 537.
- Mersenne 1963 , 3:211.
8 Newton and the Mystery of the Major Sixth - Newton 1983 , 388 – 391.
- For these notebooks, see Westfall 1980 , 83n52; for a transcription and discussion of Newton 1665 , see Pesic
- Newton ’ s only other writings on music are brief comments in Add. Ms. 39582, fol. 30 v and “ Questiones
quaedam Philosophiae, ” Add. MS. 3996, fol. 33, transcribed in Newton 1983 , 388 – 391. - See Newton 1665 , fol. 104 – 113, especially the circular diagrams on fol. 109r – 109v that strongly resemble
those in Descartes 1961 , 34, 36; see also B ü hler 2013, 73 – 79. For Newton ’ s study of Descartes, see Westfall
1980 , 88 – 105; Wardhaugh 2008, 53 – 56. For Newton ’ s circular tonometer and colorimeter, see Adams 2013. - Gouk 1999 , 224 – 257, is the pioneering study of Newton ’ s “ Of Musick. ” For a detailed treatment of Newton ’ s
study of scales, see B ü hler 2013, 97 – 121. - Newton 1665 , fol. 138; I here regularize the spelling, compared to the original orthography in Pesic 2006.
- For Hooke ’ s 1672 letter to Oldenburg, see Newton 1959 , 1:111; relying on it, Gouk (1999 , 241) claims that
Hooke “ first suggested to Newton the analogy between colour and musical tone, ” though in this letter Hooke
does not discuss color explicitly. Of course, the whole analogy between light and sound has a much longer
history, excellently surveyed in Darrigol 2009; 2010 ; 2012, 58 – 66, 86 – 93, 144 – 152. - See Republic 516d. In De sensu ( Sense and Sensibilia ), Aristotle compares ratios in music with colors at
439b20 – 440b25 (Aristotle 1984, 698). For alchemical comparisons, see Gouk 1999 , 231. - Pesic 2006 , fol. 139. For Newton ’ s use of square brackets, see Shapiro 2002 , 253n24. Though he made pre-
liminary calculations about equal temperament, Newton does not refer further to them in “ Of Musick ” but (like
Kepler) restricts himself to just intonation; see Gouk 1999 , 252. - In his reading of Kepler, Newton would have found references to Aristoxenus (e.g., HW 197).
- Add. Ms. 3996, fol. 33, in Newton 1983 , 388 – 391.
- For Newton ’ s association of idolatry and corruption with geocentric cosmology, see Gouk 1999 , 252.
- See Newton 1978 , 177 – 235; 1959 , 2:418 – 419; Guilford and Kassler 2004 , 175 – 178. For Newton ’ s applica-
tion of these arguments to the color of the sky, see Pesic 2005 , 45 – 52.