The Discovery of Musical Law
Pythagoras’s mind, alive to possibilities,
came upon a very simple theorem that had
cosmic value. The legend is that Pythagoras,
while walking past a blacksmith’s shop, heard
different pitches being emitted from the
striking of the anvils. What is said to have
gone through his mind was that the variation
in pitches was possibly created by the
different weights of the hammers. This story,
possibly symbolically inspired by the legend
of a magical blacksmith’s hammer, may
have a basis in fact;3 at any rate, Pythagoras
began to experiment with musical overtones
and ratios, which led to one of the most
important discoveries of all time.