In Harmonious Triads: Physicists, Musicians, and Instrument Makers in Nineteenth-Century Germany, Professor Myles Jackson delves into a time when scientists were committed to understanding the world of music. In the nineteenth century, physicists, musical instrument makers, and performers tried to understand the nature of musical genius, the underlying physics of acoustics, and the instruments themselves. Musical instruments provided physicists with experimental systems, and physicists’ research led directly to improvements in manufacturing instruments.

Myles Jackson is a History of Science and Technology Professor at Poly whose research interests include molecular biology and intellectual property in Europe and the US, genetic privacy issues, and the history of 18th and 19th-century German physics. His first book, Spectrum of Belief: Joseph von Fraunhofer and the Craft of Precision Optics is also available in the Dibner Library.