David Sulzer is the Karl Kruszelnicki music nerds have been looking for. I just wish hed used a catchier title for his book. Because far from being a scientific treatise on the physics and neuroscience of music, Music, Math and Mind is a hugely entertaining, easy-to-understand account of how music works and why it has such an effect on us.

Not only that. Yes, Sulzer is a neuroscientist and currently professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, Pharmacology at the School of the Arts, Columbia University. But hes also an experienced composer, performer and recording artist across several genres, from classical to alt-rock. Just google The Krotopkins or Soldier String Quartet.

Sulzer clearly explains acoustics, musical notation, composition, the physiology of the ear and many other aspects essential to his subject, across time and cultures and using real-world examples. He also offers plenty of exercises and suggestions for listening, again mixing up the genres. After all, there is no room for prejudice or elitism in science. Nor should there be in music.

The maths in each chapter is usually separated out in sidebars with provocative questions like How much does sound weigh? along with fun facts about the length of organ pipes and the worlds most unwanted orchestra. But Sulzers main concern is integration: science and art are two sides of the same coin, and facts are nothing without imagination.

I loved reading about the reconstruction of the c.35,000-year-old Geissneklosterle flute and the Thai Elephant Orchestra. How our solfeggio note names derive from the hymn Ut Queant Laxis by Guido of Arrezzo, inventor of the musical staff for notation. Why equal temperament doesnt work in Indian classical music (try it). And how calcium influx triggers synaptic vesicle fusion. (!)

Frankly, and notwithstanding Sulzers admission that no one needs this book, no musical home or institution should be without Music, Math and Mind.

Music, Math and Mind: The Physics and Neuroscience of MusicBy David SulzerColumbia University Press, PB, 304pp, $46.95ISBN 9780231193795

Available from Booktopia.

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Music, Math and Mind: The Physics and Neuroscience of Music (David Sulzer) - Limelight