Discover this podcast and so much more

Podcasts are free to enjoy without a subscription. We also offer ebooks, audiobooks, and so much more for just $11.99/month.

6. Dr. Stephon Alexander — The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe

6. Dr. Stephon Alexander — The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe

FromThe Michael Shermer Show


6. Dr. Stephon Alexander — The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe

FromThe Michael Shermer Show

ratings:
Length:
94 minutes
Released:
May 22, 2016
Format:
Podcast episode

Description

In The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe, physicist and jazz saxophonist Dr. Stephon Alexander revisits the ancient realm where music, physics, and the cosmos were one. This cosmological journey accompanies Alexander’s own tale of struggling to reconcile his passion for music and physics, from taking music lessons as a boy in the Bronx to studying theoretical physics at Imperial College. Playing the saxophone and improvising with equations, Alexander uncovered the connection between the fundamental waves that make up sound and the fundamental waves that make up everything else. As he reveals, the ancient poetic idea of the “music of the spheres,” taken seriously, clarifies confounding issues in physics. Dr. Alexander is the Royce Family Professor at Brown University’s Physics Department. In 2013, he won the prestigious American Physical Society Bouchet Award for “his contributions to theoretical cosmology.” He is also a jazz musician, and recently finished recording his first electronic jazz album with Erin Rioux.  
Released:
May 22, 2016
Format:
Podcast episode

Titles in the series (100)

In the tradition of the Enlightenment salons that helped drive the Age of Reason, Science Salon is a series of conversations between Dr. Michael Shermer and leading scientists, scholars, and thinkers, about the most important issues of our time.