Introduction

Abstract

The history of the sciences can be (and has been) told in many ways. In general, however, treatments display systematic, recurring partialities. Many of the characters who contributed to them also wrote about music, and sure, the best approximation would be to say that all of them did. And yet the musical aspect, though present on a relatively continuous basis during the evolution of sciences, is usually ignored or underestimated. This omission would appear to be particularly serious, seeing that music would enable us to represent in a better and more characteristic way the main controversies at the basis of this history. For example, the question of the so-called irrational numbers, like $\sqrt{ 2}$, may have a very simple, direct musical representation.