On the associations of music and chemistry
Journal Title: CHEMIK nauka-technika-rynek - Year 2011, Vol 65, Issue 10
Abstract
What connects chemistry, science of substances and their transformations, with music? Alexander Borodin, the author of the famous Polovtsian Dances from the opera Prince Igor and of symphonies and string quartets, was a professor of chemistry, and he specialized in organic chemistry. Lejaren A. Hiller, precursor of computer music, applied Monte Carlo simulation methods not only to study polymer conformations, but also in the process of music creation. One of the most outstanding English composers, Sir Edward Elgar, devoted his free time to chemical experiments, the traces of which have survived on some of his musical scores. There is an anecdote that when Dmitri Mendeleev listened to Robert Schumann’s Piano Quintet, he got a flash of inspiration that helped him organise chemical elements into the periodic table. Interesting is also the effect that the legendary character of Faust, the most famous sorcerer and alchemist of the turn of the 15th and 16th centuries, had on the musical imagination of composers. The examples of the relations between music and chemistry given in this paper have been included into the programme of Chemist’s Musical Canon, a new arts subject proposed to first year students at the Faculty of Chemical Engineering and Technology of the Cracow University of Technology.
Authors and Affiliations
Piotr Romańczyk, Stefan Kurek
Keywords
Related Articles
- EP ID EP102986
- DOI -
- Views 78
- Downloads 0
Biobutanol – production and application in diesel engines
The article presents a review of contemporary directions of development of biobutanol fermentation processes production technologies and the application possibilities of n-butanol as a component of fuel used to feed dies...
The Technical Man’s Existential Space
The techno-sphere is the present existential space of the technical man. This publication attempts to define the existential space and presents an analysis of such elements as: the technical man (his main characterist...
Badanie wpływu współrozpuszczalnika na wybrane właściwości mieszanek oleju napędowego z bioetanolem
W artykule przedstawione zostały wyniki badania rozpuszczalności bioetanolu w oleju napędowym oraz możliwości stabilizacji takich mieszanek za pomocą współrozpuszczalników. Pokazano wpływ współrozpuszczalnika na wybrane...
The use of renewable sources for synthesis of cosmetics ingredients
Depletion of non-renewable sources of energy and materials has stimulated the search for new ways to generate chemicals, energy and materials using renewable sources. The best renewable resource is the one that can be su...
New principles of classification, labelling and packaging (CLP) and changes in the safety data sheets of substances and mixtures - Materials for the XIV Nationwide Conference „Trends of Environmental Development in the Chemical Industry”
In the article a structure of the regulation (EC) No 1272/2008 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 16 December 2008 on classification, labelling and packaging of substances and mixtures, amending and repeali...