Abstract
WHILST engaged in the preparation of an article on the Analogy of Light and Sound for the current number of the Quarterly Journal of Science, I was led to examine the grounds of the frequently-assumed relationship between the colours of the solar spectrum and the notes of the musical scale. It is well known that Newton found a connection between the relative spaces occupied by each colour and the relative vibrations of the notes of the scale. But this, I presume, cannot be more than an accidental coincidence. The common basis of comparison is obviously the ratio of the wave-lengths in the two cases. Although according to the tables given in text-books no satisfactory connection can be found, yet many considerations appear to justify a stricter comparison of these natural scales of colour and sound.
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BARRETT, W. Note on the Correlation of Colour and Music . Nature 1, 286–287 (1870). https://doi.org/10.1038/001286a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/001286a0