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Emblems of Mind: The Inner Life of Music and Mathematics
One is a science, the other an art; one useful, the other seemingly decorative, but mathematics and music share common origins in cult and mystery and have been linked throughout history. Emblems of Mind is Edward Rothstein’s classic exploration of their profound similarities, a journey into their “inner life.” Along the way, Rothstein explains how mathematics makes sense of space, how music tells a story, how theories are constructed, how melody is shaped. He invokes the poetry of Wordsworth, the anthropology of Lévi-Strauss, the imagery of Plato, and the philosophy of Kant. Math and music, Rothstein shows, apply comparable methods as they create their abstractions, display similar concerns with ratio and proportion, and depend on metaphors and analogies to create their meanings. Ultimately, Rothstein argues, they reveal the ways in which we come to understand the world. They are images of the mind at work and play; indeed, they are emblems of Mind itself.
Jacques Barzun called this book “splendid.” Martin Gardner said it was “beautifully written, marvelous and entertaining.” It will provoke all serious readers to think in new ways about the grand patterns in art and life.
“Lovely, wistful. . . . Rothstein is a wonderful guide to the architecture of musical space, its tensions and relations, its resonances and proportions. . . . His account of what is going on in the music is unfailingly felicitous.”— New Yorker
“Provocative and exciting. . . . Rothstein writes this book as a foreign correspondent, sending dispatches from a remote and mysterious locale as a guide for the intellectually adventurous. The remarkable fact about his work is not that it is profound, as much of the writing is, but that it is so accessible.”— Christian Science Monitor
Jacques Barzun called this book “splendid.” Martin Gardner said it was “beautifully written, marvelous and entertaining.” It will provoke all serious readers to think in new ways about the grand patterns in art and life.
“Lovely, wistful. . . . Rothstein is a wonderful guide to the architecture of musical space, its tensions and relations, its resonances and proportions. . . . His account of what is going on in the music is unfailingly felicitous.”— New Yorker
“Provocative and exciting. . . . Rothstein writes this book as a foreign correspondent, sending dispatches from a remote and mysterious locale as a guide for the intellectually adventurous. The remarkable fact about his work is not that it is profound, as much of the writing is, but that it is so accessible.”— Christian Science Monitor
284 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1995
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
June 30, 2020
The Politics of the Aesthetical
The title comes from Wordsworth’s poem, Prelude, which was written and revised from 1798 throughout his life until his death in 1850. On an early morning trek up a Welsh mountain, Wordsworth has an epiphany: the sudden appreciation that his vision of the moon, and the mist in the early morning light wasn’t something ‘natural.’ These things fit together in such a moving way because he was doing the fitting. The vision he had was an artifact, a projection, or better, an emblem of his own mind. It was, he realised, a choice he was making. And if he made this one he could make others. He wrote his poem about the experience. Aesthetics was beginning to be recognised as a Power in the world.
This is a book about a personal aesthetical experience similar to that of Wordsworth. But it is not a vain, narrow exposition by a bloke who happens to like music and mathematics. It is an important case study in the the field of aesthetics. It’s importance is its demonstration of both a method and a possibility. The method is one of mutually confronting contrary aesthetics with each other, evaluating an independent discipline of thought with criteria from another independent discipline. This confrontation demands, in the first instance, an articulation of the aesthetic already in use for each discipline. In itself this is a significant contribution.
The possibility that Rothstein raises is even more exciting, not merely from an intellectual point of view but also in terms of the formal and informal politics of daily life. Through his careful analysis of the two fields he knows well (he has after all committed a substantial part of his life to them), he is confronting himself with what is effectively a political division in his own psyche. This division provokes a rather admirable response in a man like Rothstein: How do these two parts of my life fit together? Is there a unifying commonality of which these two passions are expressions?
Answering such questions is more significant than just as personal therapy. It is an experiment in a political ethos. If he can confront himself with his own apparently contrary interests and resolve them, there is no reason in principle why he can’t do the same when confronted with another human being, and expect a similar result. The prize is a new ‘higher’ understanding of their mutual aesthetics. This synthesis of perception is something that has been sought for centuries, totally unsuccessfully, in epistemology. Rothstein shows that an alternative using aesthetics is both feasible and productive. A very exciting prospect indeed. A more general treatment of this attempt may be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Emblems of Mind is also a very interesting book if you simply like music and maths.
The title comes from Wordsworth’s poem, Prelude, which was written and revised from 1798 throughout his life until his death in 1850. On an early morning trek up a Welsh mountain, Wordsworth has an epiphany: the sudden appreciation that his vision of the moon, and the mist in the early morning light wasn’t something ‘natural.’ These things fit together in such a moving way because he was doing the fitting. The vision he had was an artifact, a projection, or better, an emblem of his own mind. It was, he realised, a choice he was making. And if he made this one he could make others. He wrote his poem about the experience. Aesthetics was beginning to be recognised as a Power in the world.
This is a book about a personal aesthetical experience similar to that of Wordsworth. But it is not a vain, narrow exposition by a bloke who happens to like music and mathematics. It is an important case study in the the field of aesthetics. It’s importance is its demonstration of both a method and a possibility. The method is one of mutually confronting contrary aesthetics with each other, evaluating an independent discipline of thought with criteria from another independent discipline. This confrontation demands, in the first instance, an articulation of the aesthetic already in use for each discipline. In itself this is a significant contribution.
The possibility that Rothstein raises is even more exciting, not merely from an intellectual point of view but also in terms of the formal and informal politics of daily life. Through his careful analysis of the two fields he knows well (he has after all committed a substantial part of his life to them), he is confronting himself with what is effectively a political division in his own psyche. This division provokes a rather admirable response in a man like Rothstein: How do these two parts of my life fit together? Is there a unifying commonality of which these two passions are expressions?
Answering such questions is more significant than just as personal therapy. It is an experiment in a political ethos. If he can confront himself with his own apparently contrary interests and resolve them, there is no reason in principle why he can’t do the same when confronted with another human being, and expect a similar result. The prize is a new ‘higher’ understanding of their mutual aesthetics. This synthesis of perception is something that has been sought for centuries, totally unsuccessfully, in epistemology. Rothstein shows that an alternative using aesthetics is both feasible and productive. A very exciting prospect indeed. A more general treatment of this attempt may be found here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...
Emblems of Mind is also a very interesting book if you simply like music and maths.
January 1, 2022
The book is very challenging in some sections, but worth the effort for the gorgeous and eye openings final chapters.
February 21, 2008
Very good introduction to Math and Music. Won't be interesting to people not interested in thoroughly analyzing both. Includes much on the philosophical side, tackling the meaning of truth and beauty.
The last few chapters are worth getting through the analyses. I found the chapter on Math more interesting than the chapter on Music, but that is probably due to the fact that I knew everything in it.
The last few chapters are worth getting through the analyses. I found the chapter on Math more interesting than the chapter on Music, but that is probably due to the fact that I knew everything in it.
May 22, 2008
Overall impression: insightful, enjoyable, and fairly easy to digest for amateurs and intermediates in math and music. The author used a lot of examples to clarify points made in the text which were always helpful, but made for some long reading. The structure or path of the book was periodically revisited, to remind the readers where they have been and where they are going, which also added heft. It also made the final conclusions perhaps the smallest bit anticlimactic but it didn't ruin the book for me.
backburner
June 9, 2008One of my favorite former book catalogs was The Common Reader. When they went out of business, I went into mourning! This was one of the books I bought on their recommendation. I am not mathematically, nor musically, inclined, yet their write-up of this book (which I wish I still had!) was so good I bought it anyway. The book is about the mysterious connections between music and mathematics. I'm not sure how much someone as unmusical and poor-at-math as I am will be able to understand, but God willing, I am going to read this book someday!
July 31, 2007
Lots of interesting stuff about the connections between music and math. Much of the core of this book may be familiar (or intuitive) to any thoughtful musician, but there's also some cool math stuff, and Rothstein does a very nice fleshing out the interrelations between the fields on a number of levels (e.g., neuro-biological, music-theoretical).
February 4, 2008
I don't remember many of the details, but it was interesting. Worth a reread.
January 2, 2009
liked this one more than "this is your brain on music", even though the writing is drier.
Currently reading
September 28, 2009So far this book is good....it is very tough though... understanding the words sometimes. But it is very well written.
April 11, 2013
Interesting!
December 24, 2021
Rothstein has a fine touch describing how mathematics and music are developed in the Western traditions and tries to explain the source of their power as human achievements and modes of expression and creation at the margin. However, the book never advances a clear thesis, instead touring how mathematics and music are created and constructed. The book feels a bit like a lazy river of prose with no explicit destination.
November 28, 2025
The whole book a comparison of music and mathematics which is alternately frustrating/repetitive and insightful. Often not sure what he’s going for. Extra star for the ending, a quite fine tying of it all together regarding ways of knowing. The analogy of Plato’s Cave which I never really understood as well as I do now.
November 1, 2018
This book isn't for everyone, but if you have a fair amount of math background and some music background, it's great!
April 14, 2025
3.5 stars. This was an interesting read, although it is not entirely what I expected when I began reading.
September 12, 2011
I had so looked forward to reading this book. I picked it up from the campus library on Friday of Labor Day weekend but found it hard to get through.
It goes deep into mathematics.
Then deep into music in the next chapter.
I suppose I was looking for light reading. Maybe there is another book about music and math out there that doesn't go so deep.
It goes deep into mathematics.
Then deep into music in the next chapter.
I suppose I was looking for light reading. Maybe there is another book about music and math out there that doesn't go so deep.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews