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CCMS Colloquium: John Baez (UCR)
January 30 @ 11:00 am - 12:15 pm
CCMS Colloquium invites you to a talk by John Baez (UCR)
Title: The mathematics of tuning systems
Abstract: Leibniz said “Music is the pleasure the human mind experiences from counting without being aware that it is counting.” The first step is choosing a tuning system — the frequency ratios between pitches in a scale. Different kinds of music sound best in different tuning systems! In music from the Middle Ages until today, new musical styles have gone hand in hand with mathematical innovations in tuning systems. Here I will focus on a few of the most important and beautiful Western systems, from Pythagorean tuning to today’s reigning champion: equal temperament. Can you hear the difference? What will come next?
Bio:
John Baez is a mathematical physicist, formerly at U. C. Riverside and currently the Maxwell Fellow at the University of Edinburgh. He is known for the Cobordism Hypothesis connecting manifolds to higher categories. In 1993 he began writing This Week’s Finds in Mathematical Physics, which has been called the world’s first blog. Since then he has helped start two well-known blogs: The n-Category Caf e, a group blog on math and physics, and Azimuth, on mathematics and ecological issues. He also writes a regular column in Notices of the American Mathematical Society.
