Science, Music, And Mathematics: The Deepest Connections - Softcover

Mcintyre, Michael Edgeworth

Softcover

ISBN 10: 981124183X ISBN 13: 9789811241833

Publisher: WSPC, 2021

Synopsis

Professor Michael Edgeworth McIntyre is an eminent scientist who has also had a part-time career as a musician. From a lifetime's thinking, he offers this extraordinary synthesis exposing the deepest connections between science, music, and mathematics, while avoiding equations and technical jargon. He begins with perception psychology and the dichotomization instinct and then takes us through biological evolution, human language, and acausality illusions all the way to the climate crisis and the weaponization of the social media, and beyond that into the deepest parts of theoretical physics — demonstrating our unconscious mathematical abilities. He also has an important message of hope for the future. Contrary to popular belief, biological evolution has given us not only the nastiest, but also the most compassionate and cooperative parts of human nature. This insight comes from recognizing that biological evolution is more than a simple competition between selfish genes. Rather, he suggests, in some ways it is more like turbulent fluid flow, a complex process spanning a vast range of timescales. Professor McIntyre is a Fellow of the Royal Society of London (FRS) and has worked on problems as diverse as the Sun's magnetic interior, the Antarctic ozone hole, jet streams in the atmosphere, and the psychophysics of violin sound. He has long been interested in how different branches of science can better communicate with each other and with the public, harnessing aspects of neuroscience and psychology that point toward the deep 'lucidity principles' that underlie skilful communication.

About this title

About the Author

Michael Edgeworth McIntyre is an Emeritus Professor of Applied Mathematics in the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of the Royal Society of London, and a past editor of the prestigious Journal of Fluid Mechanics. Although he and his research group have never received funding for climate research as such, his work on atmospheric and oceanic fluid dynamics, including the dynamics of the great jet streams, has made him a close observer of developments in climate science over several decades. He has also worked on the Antarctic ozone hole and on the psychophysics of violin sound. The interest in violin sound came from several years' experience as a part-time professional musician. He has long been interested in how different branches of science can better communicate with each other and with the public, harnessing aspects of neuroscience and psychology that point toward the deep 'lucidity principles' that underlie communication skills. In 1987 he was awarded the Carl-Gustaf Rossby Research Medal, the highest award of the American Meteorological Society, for "his original and innovative works furthering our theoretical and conceptual understanding of the stratosphere".

Edition details

• Publisher: WSPC
• Publication date: 2021
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 981124183X
• ISBN 13: 9789811241833
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 228