03/21/2016
Using his own life as the baseline, Alexander, a professor of physics at Brown University, sweetly riffs on deep connections between music and cosmology. Alexander begins with his childhood and youth, during which he discovered his own passions for both physics and jazz. His life story is filled with physics mentors with serious jazz chops as well as encounters with “physics-enthusiast musicians” such as Yusef Lateef, Ornette Coleman, and Brian Eno. Alexander likens theoretical physics to jazz improvisation and discusses the ways that being a jazz musician has benefited his own theories. Those without a background in musicology and cosmology may have difficulty following some of Alexander’s lines of thought, but most of his conclusions are readily grasped. In a key example, he lays out how the structure of the universe arises from a “pattern of vibration,” much like a musical composition. Alexander, the son of a New York cab driver from Trinidad, concludes by sharing his dream that the work of physics, like jazz improvisation, will be enriched by practitioners from many backgrounds. Alexander’s account of his own rise from humble beginnings to produce contributions to both cosmology and jazz is as interesting as the marvelous connections he posits between jazz and physics. (May)
"I'll forever be grateful to musician/physicist Stephon Alexander.... He'll help you see how our awe-inspiring universe is on a never-ending, cosmological riff."—Felix Contreras, NPR, "Best Books of 2016"
"Interwoven with solid physics and personal anecdotes, the book does an admirable job of bringing together modern jazz and modern physics."—Physics World, Shortlisted for "Book of the Year (2016)"
"Marvelous."—New Scientist
"[Alexander] gives an engaging account of his uncertainties and worries as he made his way in the highly competitive world of theoretical physics, seeking to acquire the 'chops' needed to deal with the formidable mathematics of his day job along with those needed to solo on the sax after dark.... Mr. Alexander's rhapsodic excitement is infectious."—Peter Pesic, Wall Street Journal
"In the most engaging chapters of this book -- part memoir, part history of science, part physics popularization and part jazz lesson -- Dr. Alexander ventures far out onto the cutting edge of modern cosmology, presenting a compelling case for vibration and resonance being at the heart of the physical structure we find around us, from the smallest particle of matter to the largest clusters of galaxies.... His report on the state of research into the structure and history of the universe -- his own academic field -- makes for compelling reading, as does his life story."—Dan Tepfer, New York Times
"The book's attempt to bring together modern jazz and modern physics strikes me as admirable.... It is an intriguing comparison, and it certainly seems fresher than drawing analogies between classical music and classical physics.... Time to put on some Coltrane and riff some new research ideas?—Trevor Cox, Physics World
"Groundbreaking.... [Alexander] illustrates his points with colorful examples, ranging from the Big Bang to the eye of a galactic hurricane."—Down Beat
11/15/2017
Theoretical physicist, cosmologist, and jazz musician Alexander (physics, Brown Univ.) melds the seemingly incongruent fields of physics and jazz in this dynamic exploration of how jazz can help with understanding astrophysics. Polymath Alexander's passion for both fields influenced his ultimate sensing of connections between theoretical astrophysics and the endless creativity of improvisational jazz. The author shares his knowledge of the Pythagorean concept of the music of the spheres, Albert Einstein's love of music, and John Coltrane's love of Einstein to make conceptual links between the two areas, and he reveals his own unique, dynamic ideas as both a theoretical physicist and a jazz saxophonist. Alexander's lofty aim is to understand physics by showing how musical sound and theory can reveal insights into quantum theory. Also explored are the links between music and physics explored by Johannes Kepler, Isaac Newton, and rapper Rakim's ingenious improvisations and polyrhythmic cadence. His concepts revealed that the fundamental waves that make up sound are the same as the waves that make up energy, thus forming the core of this exciting analogy. Unfortunately, examples from the cutting-edge jazz recordings referenced are not included on the audio version. VERDICT Narrator Don Hagen's steady, melodic reading helps guide listeners through this fascinating but challenging semiautobiographical work that will be most relevant to those with advanced knowledge of physics and music.—Dale Farris, Groves, TX
2016-02-17
Look to jazz greats like John Coltrane for insights into subatomic particles and the history of the cosmos. In this loosely autobiographical meditation, Alexander (Physics/Brown Univ.) explores resonances between music and physics in Pythagoras' "music of the spheres," Albert Einstein's love of music, Coltrane's love of Einstein, and his own ideas as a theoretical physicist and jazz saxophonist. It's a vast, cosmic theme that includes quantum mechanics, superstring theory, the Big Bang, the evolution of galaxies, and the process of scientific theorizing itself. Alexander mines music for analogies to physical reality and credits jam sessions as a method of opening his mind to scientific insights. The comparison between music and physics rests on the fact that sound is a wave with similarities to the wave phenomena that underlie modern physics. That observation sometimes yields illuminating results—e.g., the notion that the early universe contained tiny density fluctuations that looked like 300,000-light-year-long sound waves and eventually clumped into stars and galaxies. Unfortunately, Alexander rarely finds a satisfying middle ground between facile metaphor—"in jazz combos, the ‘gravitational' pull comes from the bass and drums"—and obscure arcana. Most of the discussions (and the accompanying diagrams and math equations) are rapturous but murky. Many are too difficult and sketchily explained for laypeople to grasp, whether they are about physics—"D-branes were the objects that carried the Ramond-Ramond charge the same way a point particle (0-brane) carries electric charge"—music theory ("in the key of C, the V is a G-dominant chord and its mirror image/tritone for G is D-flat dominant"), or the effusions of jazzman Sonny Rollins ("I don't want to play the music; I want the music to play me"). Alexander's enthusiasm for his subject is infectious, but that won't help readers fully understand it. A physics-for-poets guide that's more exuberant than enlightening.
