A Perfect Harmony: Music, Mathematics and Science

by David Darling

From the earliest of civilisations, humans have found ways to make music, whether through makeshift drums or artfully drilled bone flutes. But how did music – effectively little more than a series of certain tones and rhythms – become so integral to the human experience?

Untangling the curious links between notes and number, musical perception, psychology and physics, David Darling examines the fascinating science behind music, from its Palaeolithic origins to the present.

Revealing surprising connections and busting pervasive myths, A Perfect Harmony
Why do musicians tend to be better at maths than non-musicians? Why do we find some pieces sad and others happy? Will playing Mozart to babies predispose them to genius? Could an AI write the perfect symphony?

Genres: Nonfiction, Music

288 pages, Paperback

Published August 5, 2025

About the author

There is more than one author in the database with this name. Not all books on this profile may belong to the same person.

David Darling is a science writer and astronomer. He is the author of many books, including the bestselling Equations of Eternity, and the popular online resource The Worlds of David Darling. He lives in Dundee, Scotland.

Reviews

[Tanja Šterman · Rating 5 out of 5]

Komu bi priporočila to knjigo? Hm. Sama sebi, pred kakšnimi tridesetimi leti, ko so bili v mojih možganih še živi spomini na srednješolske ure fizike. Pa seveda bi bilo idealno, če bi lahko brala slovenski prevod.
Danes na trenutke nisem vedela, če me bolj muči angleščina ali razprave o zvoku, valovanju in alikvotih. Nekaj se mi svita o pitagorejski komi in volčji kvinti, itak da vem, kaj sta temperirana in netemperirana uglasitev, a če sem čisto čisto zares iskrena, s fizikalnega stališča zadeve ne razumem povsem.

Vsekakor je za branje te knjige nujno poznati osnove glasbene teorije. Vsaj za prvi del. Kasneje je več vsebine iz zgodovine glasbe in instrumentov ter tudi kratka razprava o vlogi umetne inteligence v glasbi. Pa kup zanimivosti ... nisem vedela, da so Beatli v zgodnjih letih igrali na instrumente, uglašene na okrog 432-435 Hz. Baročni Beatli 😉. Pa da je absolutni posluh povezan z jeziki, ki poznajo tonemsko naglaševanje - pri Kitajcih, recimo, je prav zaradi tega veliko bolj pogost. Sama sicer tega v praksi nisem opazila (slovenščina, razen redkih narečij, tonemskega naglaševanja ne pozna, ga pa imata hrvaščina in bosanščina).

Na koncu mislim, da lahko rečem, da bodo od knjige več odnesli glasbeniki, ki jim je fizika tuja, kot pa fiziki in matematiki, ki poznajo zvok le z znanstvene strani in se niso nikdar spopadli z glasbeno teorijo, solfeggiom, harmonijo in kontrapunktom.

[SophieJaneK · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting account of the history, evolution, perhaps devolution and science behind music. Quite technical at times and a bit over my head, even though it is written in a very accessible way and is not dry. An interesting read for anyone who is musical and well versed in music theory!!
The modern process of sonification mentioned at the end is both exciting and fascinating.

[Ann LePore · Rating 3 out of 5]

I bought this book for my husband but decided to read it before he got to it. Even though I've never played a musical instrument, I found much of the book really interesting. Some of it, of course, was way over my head and went much deeper than interested me. What the book reinforced to me is the importance of music in our history, our lives today as a society, and our own personal mental and physical health.