Verse:Irta/Jacob Wellwise: Difference between revisions
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Wellwise was also a prolific composer and music theorist. As he was mainly a lutenist and fiddler, his speculations on the theory of music were based on traditional lute frettings at the time, which are described as "six points between strings, which are free to be moved", interpreted in many ways as 16, 17 or 18 divisions to the octave. | Wellwise was also a prolific composer and music theorist. As he was mainly a lutenist and fiddler, his speculations on the theory of music were based on traditional lute frettings at the time, which are described as "six points between strings, which are free to be moved", interpreted in many ways as 16, 17 or 18 divisions to the octave. | ||
His most prominent | His most prominent mathematico-musical feat was to compute a 17-tone equal division of the octave, using a Machin-like formula for log(2). | ||
Revision as of 05:47, 21 March 2023
Jacob Wellwise was a dialectician, lawyer, linguist and composer.
Early life
Personality
Wellwise is described by many of his contemporaries as sharp, witty, musical, sensitive, and sometimes literal-minded, which he considered a blessing when it came to his dialectical ability. He also had a natural tendency to tinker and fidget, which he described in his autobiography:
(quote)
Works
Dialectic
Wellwise is notable for writing lots of commentaries on established works at the time – secular, religious, scientific, and even fiction. However he wrote only one treatise, On Fallacies, devoted entirely to logical fallacies, misuse of logic and rhetoric, and how to avoid them.
Law and government
a critique of monarchy and class, based on a dialog with an Albionian?
Music
Wellwise was also a prolific composer and music theorist. As he was mainly a lutenist and fiddler, his speculations on the theory of music were based on traditional lute frettings at the time, which are described as "six points between strings, which are free to be moved", interpreted in many ways as 16, 17 or 18 divisions to the octave.
His most prominent mathematico-musical feat was to compute a 17-tone equal division of the octave, using a Machin-like formula for log(2).