tby MICHAEL HOSKIN
Lecturer in the History of Science in the University of Cambridge
The music of the spheres is a familiar idea as a link between medieval music and medieval astronomy. In actual fact this concept went underground in a most curious fashion during the Middle Ages. It emerged even more curiously in the period of Copernicus and Josquin when the old Pythagorean dream of the heavenly harmony produced a remarkable pay off in the hard currency of technical astronomy.
These talks are among a number devised to accompany the current series of music programmes from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance.