CHAPTER 2

Preserving the Art

A scientific understanding of the physical world has allowed us to do many remarkable things. Among them is the ability to enjoy the emotions and aesthetics of music whenever or wherever the mood strikes us. Music is art, pure and simple. Composers, performers, and the creators of musical instruments are artists and craftsmen. Through their skills, we are the grateful recipients of sounds that can create and change moods, that can animate us to dance and sing, and that form an important component of our memories. Music is a part of all of us and of our lives.

However, in spite of its many capabilities, science cannot describe music. There is nothing documentary beyond the crude notes on a sheet of music. Science ...

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