This is an unusual book about music. The author is not a musician, but a famous scientist, professor and doctor of science, specialist in archeology and cultural anthropology. The book traces how harmony has changed throughout history, how one harmonic system was replaced by another under the influence of shifts in social psychology. This approach allows the author to interest the reader in classical music, to make the forms of serious music closer and more understandable to the average listener. The author shows that jazz and rock are not anti-music, but natural forms of music associated with the entire development of musical culture, that they have many roots in traditional music. In this regard, the question is raised about ways of further development of music. The book is written in lively language and is accessible to a wide range of readers.