There Is Geometry In The Humming

Attributed to Pythagoras, this saying encapsulates the Pythagorean doctrine of musica universalis — the belief that mathematical ratios govern both the harmony of plucked strings and the movements of the planets. Pythagoras discovered, through experimentation, that consonant musical intervals correspond to simple numerical ratios (an octave being 2:1, a fifth 3:2), and extended this principle to a cosmic scale. No writings by Pythagoras survive; the idea is transmitted through later sources including Aristotle's De Caelo and the Neoplatonist commentaries.