The Relationship Between Mathematics and Music: Secondary School Student Perspectives

Abstract

Human creativity has always involved a cross-pollination of the disciplines in the generation of new ideas and products. In his time, Leonardo DaVinci made his genius known through his work as a painter, sculptor, musician, inventor, engineer, astronomer, and geologist. Centuries later, Albert Einstein, though a physicist primarily, considered it second nature to explore philosophy and music. In today's world, however, few find the time to fully explore other fields of interest. The average doctor may play a musical instrument in his spare time, and many a politician may find it enjoyable to dabble in art, but seldom is a well-rounded liberal arts education encouraged beyond the undergraduate level. The reason for this, perhaps, is that people have begun to perceive the various spheres of as a good deal more separate than did either DaVinci or Einstein. Howard Gardner won critical acclaim in the worlds of education, psychology, and cognitive science for his book, Frames of Mind (1985). The book is based upon the theory that exists in seven spheres, and that one's intellectual competence in a certain discipline need not be related to one's competence in another. Students and others having difficulties in a certain subject might willingly accept such a theory, for it strongly encourages them to look for their strengths in other areas. However, it is equally important to encourage such persons to take their area of strength and apply it to their area of weakness rather than to allow themselves to be discouraged by what might be surface difficulties. Only when one understands all the applications of a specialty can one begin to appreciate its full value and vast possibilities For these reasons it is essential that today's young people become aware of the breadth, as well as the depth, of their favorite academic disciplines. Even Gardner dares not overlook important links between disciplines. As he states: One of the great pleasures in any intellectual realm inheres in an exploration of its relationship to other spheres of intelligence (p. 126). Most probably, it was this same opinion that led the great DaVinci to use scientific study of anatomy to produce some of the world's greatest art with unmatched precision.