The strange harmony of music, maths and science should be part of every school curriculum

I’m a scientist by nature and have been since the age of five when my dad bought a set of encyclopaedias that had a section on the stars and planets. From that point on I was hooked by the wonders of the universe and ended up doing a PhD in astronomy, before becoming a freelance science writer.

But I’ve always had another passion, which I think came from my mum. She was a talented amateur soprano and used to sing these wonderful arias and other classical songs in full voice while doing jobs around the house. Later in life she developed Alzheimer’s as a result of which she forgot who her family was, didn’t recognise herself in the mirror, and would get lost in her own home. Yet if a song came on the radio that she’d known when young, she’d join in, somehow accurately remembering both lyrics and tune.

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There’s something about music that’s unique, artistically and neurologically. And to a scientist that makes it intriguing. Almost 20 years ago, I decided to delve more into music by taking singing lessons and beginning to write my own songs, some of which eventually found their way onto an album I recorded called Songs of the Cosmos.

Ten years ago, I joined a newly formed choir, The Noteables, in Dundee and discovered firsthand the benefits of being part of a community of other voices. At the same time, I wrote a series of popular books on maths with a talented student of mine. And so, through these various influences coming together, I was led to write my latest book – A Perfect Harmony: Music, Mathematics and Science.

Music is older than civilisation. Flutes have been found in European caves, carved from animal bones, that are tens of thousands of years old. Musical scales, not unlike those used in popular songs today, were known at the time of the first cities in Mesopotamia, more than 5,000 years ago. Later, with the ancient Greeks, came an understanding of the link between music and mathematics. The sounds of vibrating strings are most consonant, or pleasant to the ear, when the lengths of strings are in simple ratios.

Music and maths are deeply entwined. Through music, patterns of numbers are infused with passion and life. Underpinned by maths, music gains structure and sense. All of this takes place in the physical world, in which sound waves, produced by an instrument or the human voice, travel through the air to our ears. Then an incredible thing happens: the musical sounds somehow evoke in our brains an emotional response. 

Define music how you will – in terms of tones, rhythm, melody or harmony – what distinguishes it above all else is its power to shape how we feel and even send shivers down our spine. 

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From ancient times to the late Middle Ages, music was a core subject in all forms of higher learning. It was on an equal footing with geometry, arithmetic and astronomy in the ‘quadrivium’, which was the cornerstone of liberal arts education. It was believed, in fact, that celestial bodies, like the sun, moon and planets made sounds as they moved around the heavens – the so-called ‘music of the spheres’.

Recent research on the benefits of music has shown that studying music and, especially, playing an instrument, helps with language processing, memory retention, maths and social-skills development. 

It’s also reassuring to find, as other research has shown, that it’s never too late to reap the benefits from learning an instrument or starting to sing. Seniors who take up the piano or another instrument, or simply sing along with others in a choir, appear to be more resistant to age-related cognitive and memory problems. One reason for this might be the creation of alternative connections in the brain that can compensate for mental decline as we get older. 

More and more people are discovering the health benefits of music, especially through joining community choirs. In a world where an increasing amount of social interaction takes place online community singing is remarkably effective at establishing broad, face-to-face social networks. Increasing evidence suggests that in-person social connections can play a vital role in maintaining health.

In light of mounting concerns about loneliness and isolation it’s interesting and encouraging that people seem to be rediscovering a deep-seated potential to connect with one another through song.

The bond between science and music is nowhere more evident than in the number of scientists who’ve played or composed music, and musicians who’ve been inspired by science. Einstein famously said: “Life without playing music is inconceivable to me. I see my life in terms of music.” Exploring the harmony of music, maths and science should be part of every school curriculum and is something from which we can all benefit.

A Perfect Harmony: Music, Mathematics and Scienceby David Darling is out now (Oneworld Publications, £10.99).

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