Harmonograph: A Visual Guide to the Mathematics of Music (Wooden Books)

Rating:
Summary: Interesting.........
Review: Although, I had never heard of harmonographs until I saw this text in a book store recently, the drawing on the cover caught my eye immediately, as I had seen similiar drawings, created by some drawing device using pendulums, in Annie Besant and Charles Leadbeater's THOUGHT FORMS, first published over 100 years ago. Those who are familiar with Stephen Phillips' 1980 work: Extrasensory Perception of Quarks (which is a contempory analysis of Besant & Leadbeater's Occult Chemistry, published in 1908 & 1919) might be well inclined to take Besant and Leadbeater seriously regarding their geometric descriptions of thought forms. Since Besant and Leadbeater assume that there is some commonality between the shape of the thought forms they perceived and those drawn by a harmonograph, this book seems like a good introduction to this long forgotten device, which may provide some sort of conceptual framework to think about thought forms.

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful and Fascinating
Review: I discovered the the Wooden Books series less than a year ago through some serendipitous bookstore browsing, and soon purchased them all. Each volume is compact, well-written, beautifully illustrated, and most of all informative. I'm reading my copy of Harmonograph along with Stuart Isacoff's book Temperament (also recommended), and couldn't imagine a more perfect pairing of books. Being musically challenged, I rely on Harmonograph to make better sense of the intervals Isacoff discusses in his book, and it does so in a brilliant, unique way. You won't be disappointed in this little gem.

Rating:
Summary: hints of the mystical
Review: This is an excellent little book on harmonics and sound, encompassing science and music. It is a much needed counter weight to the effervessence of other recent titles on temperament and harmonics. It is such a beautifully visual book, with graphic depictions of sound waves, you will simply want to look at the illustrations for hours. It hints at the mystical without falling off the edge into either New Age or Cultural Supremacy.