Pythagoras and the Ratios by Phyllis Hornung Peacook
This book is about two boys called Pythagoras and Octavius. One day Pythagoras
heard Octavius played the pipe but it sounded very awful. Pythagoras then starts
making his own pipe by measuring the length and width of each pipe. He made 6
pipes in total. The first pipe measured 12 then second pipe is 15, 16,18,20 and
24. Later he compared his pipe with Octavius’s pipe, but Octavius’s pipe was
twice longer than Pythagoras. Pythagoras
then tried to change Octavius’s pipe by cutting the length of the pipe. In the
end both their pipes sounded very nice.
The mathematical concept of this story presented the
trigonometric concept. Intervals are based on simple ratios (1:1, 2:1, 3:2,
4:3), which this creates perfection in the music. The reason Pythoras’s pipe
sounded nice is because his ratio is perfect. The lengths of the pipe controls
how high or low the sound is.
Literature is an effective way to teach, as it’s easier to
understand the concept of the book. If there were only numbers and a few texts,
some people wouldn’t understand. Also this book is easy to understand as it shows
the calculation and also makes children understand how music and math is related to
each other.
I loved how you included a picture from the book to illustrate your point of Pythagoras and the Ratios being easy to understand because it relates calculations to music.Good job!
ReplyDeleteIts interesting to think that math would play such a critical role in something like music. Fascinating!
ReplyDeleteI had no idea that math played such an important role in pipe-playing. Interestingly enough, this was the prequel to the book I choose, so this is clearly a fantastic choice.
ReplyDeleteance,
ReplyDeletenice book selection. i have heard of this story but had never read it before. you give a nice synopsis. your explanation of the concept was good. i like that you included an illustration to reiterate some of the calculations, but it would have been nice to see YOU explain some of the ratios in your explanation portion.
music and math are forever intertwined as are art and math, so i am happy to see that you chose this title. my graduate thesis was actually on the mathematical formulas that make the reed in a clarinet work. i have personally always been a huge fan of the connection between music and math. you are right that literature can help to understand mathematical concepts.
professor little