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Kepler, Galilei, and the Harmony of the World

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Music and Science in the Age of Galileo

Part of the book series: The University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science ((WONS,volume 51))

Abstract

In William Shakespeare’s Merchant of Venice, Lorenzo, gazing on the star-studded, moonlit sky, exclaims:

Sit, Jessica. Look how the floor of heaven Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold; There’s not the smallest orb which thou behold’st But in this motion like an angel sings.1

The notion of heavenly harmonies is an ancient one, but nowhere do we find it more deeply and continually expressed than in the work of Shakespeare’s contemporary, Johannes Kepler.

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References

  1. It Merchant of Venice, V, 58–61.

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© 1992 Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht

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Gingerich, O. (1992). Kepler, Galilei, and the Harmony of the World. In: Coelho, V. (eds) Music and Science in the Age of Galileo. The University of Western Ontario Series in Philosophy of Science, vol 51. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8004-5_4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-8004-5_4

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-90-481-4218-7

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-015-8004-5

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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