Pythagorean Philosophy and its influence on Musical Instrumentation and
             "Music is the harmonization of opposites, the unification of
             disparate things, and the conciliation of warring elements... Music is the
             basis of agreement among things in nature and of the best government in the
             universe. As a rule it assumes the guise of harmony in the universe, of
             lawful government in a state, and of a sensible way of life in the home.
             It brings together and unites." - The Pythagoreans
             Every school student will recognize his name as the originator of
             that theorem which offers many cheerful facts about the square on the
             hypotenuse. Many European philosophers will call him the father of
             philosophy. Many scientists will call him the father of science. To
             musicians, nonetheless, Pythagoras is the father of music. According to
             Johnston, it was a much told story that one day the young Pythagoras was
             passing a blacksmith's shop and his ear was caught by the regular intervals
             of sounds from the anvil. When he discovered that the hammers were of
             different weights, it occured to him that the intervals might be related to
             those weights. Pythagoras was correct. Pythagorean philosophy maintained
             that all things are numbers. Based on the belief that numbers were the
             building blocks of everything, Pythagoras began linking numbers and music.
             Revolutionizing music, Pythagoras' findings generated theorems and
             standards for musical scales, relationships, instruments, and creative
             formation. Musical scales became defined, and taught. Instrument makers
             began a precision approach to device construction. Composers developed new
             attitudes of composition that encompassed a foundation of numeric value in
             addition to melody. All three approaches were based on Pythagorean
             philosophy. Thus, Pythagoras' relationship between numbers and music had a
             profound influence on future musical education, i...