Pythagorean Philosophy and its influence on Musical Instrumentation
             "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
             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,
             The intrinsic discov...