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The Jazz of Physics: The Secret Link Between Music and the Structure of the Universe Paperback – Dec 5 2017

by Stephon Alexander (Author)
4.6 out of 5 stars 447 ratings
3.6 on Goodreads
1,325 ratings

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A spectacular musical and scientific journey from the Bronx to the cosmic horizon that reveals the astonishing links between jazz, science, Einstein, and Coltrane

More than fifty years ago, John Coltrane drew the twelve musical notes in a circle and connected them by straight lines, forming a five-pointed star. Inspired by Einstein, Coltrane put physics and geometry at the core of his music.

Physicist and jazz musician Stephon Alexander follows suit, using jazz to answer physics' most vexing questions about the past and future of the universe. Following the great minds that first drew the links between music and physics-a list including Pythagoras, Kepler, Newton, Einstein, and Rakim — The Jazz of Physics reveals that the ancient poetic idea of the "Music of the Spheres," taken seriously, clarifies confounding issues in physics.

The Jazz of Physics will fascinate and inspire anyone interested in the mysteries of our universe, music, and life itself.
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  1. ISBN-10
    0465093574
  2. ISBN-13
    978-0465093571
  3. Edition
    Reprint
  4. Publication date
    Dec 5 2017
  5. Language
    English
  6. Dimensions
    13.97 x 1.91 x 20.96 cm
  7. Print length
    272 pages
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The Jazz of Physics

The Jazz of Physics

The Jazz of Physics

The Jazz of Physics

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Review

"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)"

"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

"[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

"惭补谤惫别濒辞耻蝉."―New Scientist

"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

"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."―Publishers Weekly

About the Author

Stephon Alexander?is a professor of theoretical physics at Brown University, an established jazz musician, and an immigrant from Trinidad who grew up in the Bronx. He is the 2020 president of the National Society of Black Physicists and a founding faculty Director of Brown University's Presidential Scholars program, which boosts underrepresented students. In addition to his academic achievements, he was the scientific consultant to Ava DuVernay for the feature film?A Wrinkle in Time. His work has been featured by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, WIRED, and many other outlets. He has been a guest on?Nova, the “Brian Lehrer Show”, and Neil deGrasse Tyson's “StarTalk,” among much else. The author of Fear of a Black Universe and The Jazz of Physics, Alexander lives in Providence, Rhode Island.?

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Basic Books
  • Publication date ‏ : ‎ Dec 5 2017
  • Edition ‏ : ‎ Reprint
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Print length ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0465093574
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0465093571
  • Item weight ‏ : ‎ 1.05 kg
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 1.91 x 20.96 cm
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 out of 5 stars 447 ratings

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Stephon Alexander

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4.6 out of 5 stars
447 global ratings

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Top reviews from Canada

  • Mr. Happy
    5.0 out of 5 stars Going down the rabbit hole.
    Reviewed in Canada on January 19, 2019
    Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase
    This book is pretty easy to follow and an interesting read. It's not the ultimate math/ physics read. It is the story of how Stephon's interest in life moved due to people he met and information he got from encounters with some bright minds. He has led a life that interests me through this book. Be warned though. From this book I've learned to hope there are more like it. I'm starting with the Physics World Book of the year Award and seeing what falls out. It should be a very interesting rabbit hole.
    Helpful
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  • Alain Turner
    5.0 out of 5 stars As advertised
    Reviewed in Canada on December 20, 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    As advertised. Very nice reading. Looking forward to second book
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  • J2B
    4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting Perspective and Analogy, but not crystal clear
    Reviewed in Canada on November 6, 2016
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    The author is a professional jazz musician and "cosmic" physicist. By way of introduction, I am also a jazz musician and teach concepts of medical physics with the musical basis of sound waves, sometimes bringing a guitar into the classroom. However, I must confess to knowing little about the formation of the universe. I was obviously drawn to the book title!

    This is a tantalizing topic that explores the rhythmic, symmetric, and cyclic nature of our universe. There are numerous fun anecdotes from musical heroes including the author's "Eureka moment" when the approach to creative improvisation gave him new insights on deeper understanding of the physical universe and underlying equations of space-time, warped by a gravitational field.

    One area of the book was, however, especially confusing and frustrating. Figures are parachuted in with limited captioning that does not guide the reader's eyes to the salient features of the figure. The accompanying text does not offer much further guidance (at least where the Figures first appear).

    The Final Chapter is really the "climax" of the book but it is "crammed" with key concepts in an attempt to wrap up. It reminds me of the Loud Bb13th chord played by the entire jazz orchestra at the end of a Big Band tune! The text appears to be less polished and organized - presenting a stew of ideas. The chart produced by master saxophonist John Coltrane (who had a deep appreciation of Einstein and cosmology) is presented a second time but appears to be a "forced analogy" with cosmology. Perhaps a specialist can appreciate the cosmic connections in this Finale, but other readers will simply be left dazed by some of the cosmic 'jargon'.

    Overall this is a good book with a very interesting perspective. However, the author's love of jazz may have blinded him to the limits of the musical analogy?
    3 people found this helpful
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  • M. Lebel
    5.0 out of 5 stars Satisfait
    Reviewed in Canada on June 24, 2020
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Pour le plaisir de mes lectures personnelles. Très satisfait
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  • H. A. Brown
    5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book
    Reviewed in Canada on June 26, 2016
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    The musician for whom I bought this, says that it's a wonderful book!
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  • 麻豆区 Customer
    4.0 out of 5 stars After reading 7 chapters of the book the jazz. ...
    Reviewed in Canada on March 27, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    After reading 7 chapters of the book the jazz. Of physics i have learned of many ways that string therory can be applied to varying ways and a reason of many creating degrees of imaginative thoughts
    can be explored and of many different applications of and for such further studies of light that can be understood adding to another avenues that should do more definteley reach a grasp of a greater understanding of wavelengths of light itself
    And mechanics too as well.
    Wayne A Aldrich
    Photograghy and writer of Studio 12 Artisan gallery
    One person found this helpful
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  • ThreeQuarterRound
    3.0 out of 5 stars Jazz/Physics/Biography
    Reviewed in Canada on March 29, 2023
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    This book had some interesting content about jazz, Physics, and how jazz relates to Physics. What I didn’t like was how much the book felt like a biography about the author instead of a book about jazz and Physics.
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  • doug hone
    4.0 out of 5 stars Stephon's Story
    Reviewed in Canada on January 27, 2022
    Format: Paperback
    This is physicist Stephon Alexander's autobiographical journey through space, time, and music. I liked the passages about Albert Einstein. I liked the discussion about the speed of light.
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Top reviews from other countries

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  • Jeff B
    5.0 out of 5 stars Well Physics was my best subject at school and music was my evening study
    Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Well Physics was my best subject at school and music was my evening study. So this book really interested me. It is surprising just how many top flight physicists are also great musicians, Einstein played violin to a high standard, his love was Mozart. From the other angle, John Coltrane was intensely interested in mathematics and physics, which drove his unique take on Jazz.

    This is the journey this book takes you on, in many ways the personal journey of the author, from growing up in the Broncs with Rasterfarian dreadlocks to meeting his first mentor who’s office had a picture of Einstein on one wall and Coltrane on the other.

    My biggest surprise was reaching chapter 6, an entire chapter about Brian Eno and cosmology! Brian loaned Stephon his bicycle indefinitely and one of the great things about this book are the stories Stephon tells.

    You are not going to get away with an easy read on the physics side, though everything is understandable and well explained.

    I really loved this book and the writing style is very compelling, it hits the right balance between the physics, the music and the stories. I feel Stephon has a lot more to say on the subject, and look forward to any follow ups. The question is who would I recommend this book to? Just about any musician who wants to see a little further into the links with physics and Jazz, and free thinking.
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  • Victor Evadla
    5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent!
    Reviewed in Mexico on January 19, 2020
    Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase
    Great book. I really enjoy it very much. Clear concepts and explanations.
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  • Sr
    4.0 out of 5 stars Das Buch ist gut, verkauft wurde jedoch ein unverk?uflicher Preprint.
    Reviewed in Germany on August 17, 2023
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    Das ist das Gegenprogramm zu Frau Hossenfelder, das h?ssliche Universum. Sie beklagt, dass Physiker nur nach Sch?nheit und Symmetrien oder bestenfalls Symmetriebrüchen suchen, und Stephon Alexander ist wie die meisten Physiker Musik-versessen und sieht ?hnlichkeiten zwischen Naturgesetzen und den Gesetzen der Musik, spielt vollendet Jazz Saxophon mit herausragenden Musikern. Ich kann beiden Seiten etwas abgewinnen.Kritik ist angebracht, da das CERN jenseits des Higgs-Boson nichts mehr findet. Wir haben also keine Erkl?rung für die Masse der Teilchen, die fast nur aus Bindungsenergie zu bestehen scheinen. Andererseits ist es eine hervorragende Erkl?rung, dass Symmetrien Erhaltungsgr??en bedeuten und wo sie gebrochen werden, spalten sich Naturkr?fte auf. Die Ursache der Aufspaltung ist die Abkühlung im Universum. Dennoch haben wir so vieles nicht verstanden und die Analogien der allt?glichen Welt taugen nur wenig, um Quanteneffekte oder kosmische Effekte zu erkl?ren.
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  • AllanCw
    5.0 out of 5 stars And let’s say the interviewer starts out by saying something to the effect of how smart you are
    Reviewed in the United States on November 19, 2017
    Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase
    A unique and personal take on 'The Meaning Of It All' physics. Alexander's use of memoir to... hold on... I met Stephon Alexander in 2005 while doing research for a screenplay; he was at the Stanford Linear Accelerator (SLAC). Since then I wrote a memoir in which Stephon appears. Here's a bit of it:

    ...I need to explain why I think Stephon Alexander is a special human
    being, and if you hang in you’ll see how this connects to other things.
    When we sat down for our interview at Stanford, the first thing I told
    Stephon was that I’m a dilettante. Stephon stopped me. “That word,” he
    said. “What does it mean?”
    “顿颈濒别迟迟补苍迟别?”
    “Yes. What does it mean?”
    I told him it means that I know just enough about theoretical physics to
    make a fool of myself in talking to an actual theoretical physicist.
    “How do you spell it?”
    I didn’t really know. I told him there are some “l’s and “t”s but I didn’t
    know how many of each, plus there is an “i” somewhere and at least one
    “e.” Stephon was nodding, taking this in, filing it away somewhere.
    Then I asked him why he became a theoretical physicist and he said
    because he was angry at God.
    Hold on. Let me ask you something. Let’s say that for some reason you’re
    being interviewed because you have expertise at something. Someone, a
    Hollywood screenwriter, say, shows up and you do a formal interview.
    And let’s say the interviewer starts out by saying something to the effect
    of how smart you are, but in doing so uses a word you’re unfamiliar with.
    Here’s the question: Would you stop him and ask what that word means?
    Neither would I.
    Why is that? Because our main concern would be how we’re perceived.
    This would be the case in any situation with a stranger, but especially in
    an on-the-record interview, and even more especially if the premise of the
    interview is that we’re smart.
    Stephon did not care how he was perceived. Or, rather, he may have
    cared, but his need to know something, a truth about the world, minor
    though it was, was more important.
    If people – you, say, plus me – worried less about how we’re perceived,
    we’d worry less about self-image (still another self word), too. Which
    means we’d be less likely to believe untruths simply because they make
    us feel more comfortable about ourselves. Please trust me on something:
    The belief in untruths is the primary reason why the world is so [screwed] up.
    In fact, all the reasons why the world is so [screwed] up depend on people
    believing untruths. I know that I’m right on this one thing.
    Stephon Alexander is not one of the reasons why the world is so [screwed] up,
    which is enough to make him special. In fact, that’s my definition of special,
    as in special human being. Someone who is not part of the problem of the
    world being so fucked-up.
    And listen. Stephon Alexander knows some secrets of the universe. Trust
    me on another thing: That Stephon asked me what “dilettante” means and
    how you spell it is as much a reason for his knowledge of some secrets of the
    universe as his astounding innate brain power, his intelligence.
    This angry-at-God thing. Stephon grew up in a poor section of the Bronx,
    New York. As a child he was confused by all the misery around him. The
    confusion led to anger at God, since he had been told that God created
    Everything and Everything must include the misery all around him. So
    he wanted to understand how God could have done this. Stephon, having
    been blessed with astounding innate intelligence, even as a young person
    sensed that he would not come to understand about God through studying
    religion or philosophy or anthropology. He was tempted by art, he told me,
    particularly the art of jazz music. But he decided to dedicate his life to physics,
    the area of it that looks into first causes. What happened in the beginning.
    If anyone ever comes close to a real understanding about God it will
    be a physicist, someone like Stephon Alexander. It will not be a Pope
    or an ayatollah or a rabbi or a Buddhist in a monastery or some [screw]ball
    mother[etc] blabbing away on Sunday morning TV. The reason for this
    is simple: Without knowing how things work—what causes what—there is
    no possibility of knowing anything else. It’s all just words strung together
    and circular reasoning and specious causation and made up stuff and other
    crocks of [poop]. All of it.
    Another thing. That Stephon was tempted to dedicate his life to art, to
    jazz music, is significant also. In fact, Stephon does dedicate himself to jazz
    music, to playing it on a saxophone, when he’s not looking into first causes.
    To sum up: In seeking to understand God, Stephon Alexander looks into
    first causes and plays jazz music on a saxophone.
    I love that.
    Although he grew up in the United States, Stephon was born in the
    Caribbean, on an island. I believe that this heritage is part of what makes
    Stephon special. The spirituality of his people. He told me a childhood story
    about his grandmother that gave me the shivers.
    The island on which Stephon was born is this island, by the way. The little
    island from which I write.

    #

    Anyway, it doesn't surprise me that Stephon has written a fascinating book on physics and Jazz music. Not at all. (That his unquestioning faith in Einstein's Relativity theories may be misplaced is a separate matter. Those interested should give Electric Universe theory a look, at thunderbolts.info.)
    Report
  • ＪＫ
    4.0 out of 5 stars ジャズと量子宇宙论に関係は有りますか？
    Reviewed in Japan on August 28, 2017
    Verified Purchase
    量子宇宙论とジャズを颈尘辫谤辞惫颈补迟颈辞苍の単语で结び付てストーリーが展开していく。着者の両者への考察は直観的に理解できるところも有るが、あくまでも直観を超えられない。「だからどうなの？それ以降の论理展开は？」と闻かれると回答に詰まる。物理の本だからと言って坚苦しく考えずに、ＮＹ下町育ちの当时ととしては大変珍しい黒人物理学者の保守的、闭锁的学会での奋闘记として読むのが良いのでは、何故なら、着者も述べてるように宇宙论は现代の神话なのです、その心は凡人には理解できない。
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