The role of acoustics and music theory in the scientific work of Robert Hooke

Abstract

The work of Robert Hooke (1635-1703) on acoustics and music theory is a larger subject than might seem the case from studies of his career so far available. First, there are his experiments for the Royal Society which can be defined as purely acoustical, which anticipate later experiments performed by men such as J. Sauveur and E. Chladni. Second, there are passages in many of his writings which by extensive use of musical analogy attempt to account for all physical Phenomena of the universe, which operates on the principles of 'harmony' arid 'dissonance'. It is in this context that the hitherto unpublished manuscript presented at the end of this paper should be considered. This essay, which combines both the older tradition of the 'praise of music' and the newer consideration of the physical nature of musical sound, illustrates a particular .aspect of Hooke's thought which exercised a proibund influence on all his studies.

Mathematics, music, and experiment in late seventeenth-century England

“…Th is might account for his apparent uninterest in establishing the absolute frequency of visible vibrations in the case of the wheel. From other references in his diary Hooke seems to have been developing his theories of sound throughout 1676, but unfortunately we have very little more information about their content (see Kassler and Oldroyd 1983;Gouk 1980).…”

The Analogy between Light and Sound in the History of Optics from the Ancient Greeks to Isaac Newton. Part 1

“…Westfall, 1972, pp. 481–488; Gouk, 1980, p. 575. Hooke's MS on the causes of effect of music, reproduced in Gouk (1980, pp.…”

“…481–488; Gouk, 1980, p. 575. Hooke's MS on the causes of effect of music, reproduced in Gouk (1980, pp. 597–605), included a vague and fairly standard definition of sound: ‘Sound being nothing els but a tremulous motion of the drum & organ of the ear, excited by the like motion of the sonorous medium, w ch received its motion from the Sounding Body’ (Gouk, 1980, p. 601).…”