Not all music lovers know that the usual scale of a modern piano keyboard was once considered a crime against God and nature, and debates about it occupied such philosophers and scientists as Pythagoras, Plato, da Vinci, Newton and Rousseau. From antiquity until the Age of Enlightenment, the relationships between the notes of the musical scale were perceived as the key to understanding the structure of the Universe. The author of this book, Stuart Isacoff, provides an accessible and engaging account of the controversies and conflicts surrounding musical settings, placing them in the context of art history, philosophy, religion, politics, and science. The invention of the modern tuning system, known as equal temperament, challenged ideas that had held firm for almost two millennia - and on the other hand, led to the emergence of great music by Beethoven, Schubert, Chopin, Debussy and other composers...