{"id":403,"date":"2010-09-28T05:32:43","date_gmt":"2010-09-28T05:32:43","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/?p=403"},"modified":"2020-03-21T11:03:25","modified_gmt":"2020-03-21T11:03:25","slug":"thomas-young","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/2010\/09\/28\/thomas-young\/","title":{"rendered":"Thomas Young"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>
\nA physician, polymath and professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution, the scientific contributions of Thomas Young (1773-1829) span such diverse fields as the wave theory of light, the elasticity of solids, the surface tension, the theory of color perception, the physiology of vision, medicine, linguistics, and Egyptian hieroglyphics. But also, and that’s why he is here, acoustics, musical harmony and tempered tuning.<\/p>\n

With his famous double-slit, Young demonstrated the interference of light and, thus, its wave nature (previously proposed by Hooke, Huygens and Euler). Since Newton’s time the idea that light was made of particles had been prevailing. [A century after Young, Einstein resurrected the particulate nature of light to explain the photoelectric effect, thus contributing to the current understanding of light’s dual wave-particle nature.]<\/p>\n

Young’s modulus, relating the strain (deformation) of a body to the applied stress (pressure), is still today a fundamental parameter in the mechanical characterization of a solid. Young’s sensible hypothesis, later developed by Helmholtz, that the human eye has three types of sensors responding to different wavelengths (centered on red, green and violet light) is the base of the trichromatic color vision theory. It was also Young the first who described astigmatism and the one that gave soundness to the idea that the crystalline deforms itself to allow focusing vision at different lengths. He also explained the phenomenon of capillarity, based on the surface tension concept (Young-Laplace equation) and established the equation relating the contact angle between a drop o liquid and a plane surface (Young equation, which becomes the Young-Dupr\u00e9 equation when thermodynamic effects are taken into account).<\/p>\n

The proposal of a universal phonetic system (Young was fluent in over a dozen languages, including several dead ones) and his work in deciphering Egyptian hieroglyphics (later used by Champolion to decipher the Rosetta Stone) would serve to put a brilliant end to the contributions of a multifaceted polymath had we already commented on his contributions to music. <\/p>\n

Young, who apparently played a wide variety of musical instruments, bagpipe included,[1]<\/sup><\/a> proposed a well tempered<\/em> tuning (\u00abYoung’s temperament\u00bb<\/em>) considered by some as an \u00abidealization\u00bb<\/em> of the different \u00abwell temperaments\u00bb and superior to the tuning method in use today (\u00abequal temperament\u00bb<\/em>). In a different entry we will try to explain what is all about temperament in music and the different systems proposed. By now, it should suffice to say that a well tempered tuning tries to avoid the difficulties in modulation<\/em> (key change) found in the old Pythagorean and Just tunings (based on a perfect fifth and on a mayor third, respectively). While in the current equal temperament all the keys have the same relations of intervals, the well tempered tunings (Young’s included) build keys that, while affording modulation, are different from one another, and have a “different character”<\/a> because of their small differences in intervals. For instance, in Young’s temperament a major third in C Major has a frequency ratio different to that of a major third in A Major (this doesn’t holds for the current equal temperament).<\/p>\n

The paper in which Young proposes his tuning system[2]<\/sup><\/a> was titled Outlines of Experiments and Inquiries Respecting Sound and Light<\/em> and collects a large number of experiments and reflections on very different topics (acoustics, air dynamics, the nature of sound, harmony, analogies between light and sound). The same issue of the journal contains the Herschel<\/a> papers describing his discovery of infrared radiation.<\/p>\n

Although it is not enough to explain his genius, it won’t be a surprise to konw that, as pointed out by his biographer, Young \u201cadhered strictly through life to the principle of doing nothing by halves\u201d.[3]<\/sup><\/a> Which doesn’t seem to be a bad principle for a musician or a scientist.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>
\nM\u00e9dico, erudito, profesor de Filosof\u00eda Natural en la Royal Institution, las contribuciones cient\u00edficas de Thomas Young (1773-1829) abarcan campos tan dispares como la teor\u00eda ondulatoria de la luz, la elasticidad de los cuerpos, la tensi\u00f3n superficial, la teor\u00eda de la percepci\u00f3n del color, la fisiolog\u00eda de la visi\u00f3n, la medicina, la ling\u00fc\u00edstica y los jerogl\u00edficos egipcios. Pero tambi\u00e9n, y por eso est\u00e1 aqu\u00ed, la ac\u00fastica, la armon\u00eda musical y la afinaci\u00f3n temperada.<\/p>\n

Young, con su famosa doble rendija, demostr\u00f3 el fen\u00f3meno de la interferencia de la luz y, con ello, su car\u00e1cter ondulatorio (propuesto con anterioridad por Hooke, Huygens y Euler). Desde Newton prevalec\u00eda, en cambio, la opini\u00f3n de que su naturaleza era corpuscular, es decir, que la luz est\u00e1 formada por part\u00edculas. [Un siglo despu\u00e9s, Einstein volvi\u00f3 a resucitar el car\u00e1cter corpuscular de la luz para explicar el efecto fotoel\u00e9ctrico, contribuyendo finalmente a la consideraci\u00f3n de una naturaleza dual, onda-corp\u00fasculo, de la luz.]. <\/p>\n

El m\u00f3dulo de Young, que relaciona la deformaci\u00f3n de un cuerpo con la tensi\u00f3n a la que es sometida, es a\u00fan hoy un par\u00e1metro fundamental para la caracterizaci\u00f3n mec\u00e1nica de un s\u00f3lido. La atinada hip\u00f3tesis de Young, desarrollada despu\u00e9s por Helmholtz, de que el ojo humano dispone de tres tipos de sensores capaces de distinguir diferentes longitudes de onda (basadas en rojo, verde y violeta), es la base de la teor\u00eda tricrom\u00e1tica del color. Fue tambi\u00e9n Young el primero en describir el astigmatismo y en fundamentar la idea de que el cristalino se deforma para permitir enfocar la visi\u00f3n a diferentes distancias. Explic\u00f3, adem\u00e1s, el fen\u00f3meno de la capilaridad, bas\u00e1ndose en el concepto de tensi\u00f3n superficial (ecuaci\u00f3n de Young-Laplace) y estableci\u00f3 la f\u00f3rmula que determina el \u00e1ngulo de contacto entre una gota de l\u00edquido y una superficie plana (ecuaci\u00f3n de Young, que cuando se consideran adem\u00e1s efectos termodin\u00e1micos se convierte en la de Young-Dupr\u00e9).<\/p>\n

La propuesta de un sistema fon\u00e9tico universal (Young hablaba m\u00e1s de una docena de idiomas, incluyendo varias lenguas muertas) y sus trabajos de descifrado de jerogl\u00edficos egipcios (en los que, m\u00e1s tarde, se basar\u00eda Champollion para descifrar la piedra Rosetta) terminar\u00edan de adornar las contribuciones de un erudito todoterreno que probablemente no tenga parang\u00f3n en la historia, si no fuera porque no hemos hablado a\u00fan de su contribuci\u00f3n a la m\u00fasica.<\/p>\n

Young, que al parecer tocaba una gran variedad de instrumentos, gaita incluida,[1]<\/sup><\/a> propuso un m\u00e9todo de afinaci\u00f3n bien temperada<\/em> (\u00abtemperamento de Young\u00bb<\/em>) considerado por algunos \u00abuna idealizaci\u00f3n\u00bb de los diferentes \u00abbuenos temperamentos\u00bb y superior a la afinaci\u00f3n actual (\u00abtemperamento igualado\u00bb). En alguna otra entrada intentaremos explicar en qu\u00e9 consiste el temperamento en m\u00fasica y los distintos m\u00e9todos propuestos. Por el momento baste decir que las afinaciones bien temperadas buscan evitar las dificultades para la modulaci\u00f3n<\/em> (cambio de tono) que presentaban los antiguos sistemas pitag\u00f3rico<\/em> (basado en la quinta justa) y justo<\/em> (basado en la tercera mayor). Mientras que en el temperamento igualado actualmente en uso todas las tonalidades mantienen las mismas relaciones interv\u00e1licas, las afinaciones bien temperadas (incluida la de Young) construyen tonalidades que permiten la modulaci\u00f3n pero son diferentes unas de otras, y tienen \u00abdistinto car\u00e1cter\u00bb<\/a> al presentar peque\u00f1as diferencias interv\u00e1licas. Por ejemplo, en el temperamento de Young una tercera mayor en Do mayor tiene una relaci\u00f3n de frecuencias diferente a la de una tercera mayor en La mayor (esto no ocurre en el sistema de afinaci\u00f3n de igual temperamento actualmente en uso). <\/p>\n

El art\u00edculo en el que Young propone su sistema de afinaci\u00f3n [2]<\/sup><\/a> se titula Outlines of Experiments and Inquiries Respecting Sound and Light<\/em> y recoge multitud de experimentos y reflexiones sobre muy diversos temas (ac\u00fastica, din\u00e1mica del aire, naturaleza del sonido, armon\u00eda, analog\u00edas entre luz y sonido). El mismo volumen de la revista recoge los art\u00edculos en los que Herschel<\/a> describe su descubrimiento de la radiaci\u00f3n infrarroja.<\/p>\n

Aunque no baste para explicar su genio, al menos no ser\u00e1 una sorpresa saber que, como se\u00f1al\u00f3 su bi\u00f3grafo, Young \u00abadhered strictly through life to the principle of doing nothing by halves\u00bb.[3]<\/sup><\/a> No parece un mal principio, ni para un m\u00fasico ni para un cient\u00edfico.<\/p>\n

[1]<\/a>Measured Tones. The Interplay of Physics and Music. 2nd<\/sup> ed. Ian Johnston. IOP Pub., Bristol, 2002<\/a>
\n[2]<\/a>T. Young, Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Vol. 90 (1800), pp. 106-150<\/a>
\n[3]<\/a>Life of Thomas Young, G. Peacock. J.Murray Ed. London, 1855<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A physician, polymath and professor of Natural Philosophy at the Royal Institution, the scientific contributions of Thomas Young (1773-1829) span such diverse fields as the wave theory of light, the elasticity of solids, the surface tension, the theory of color …<\/span> Sigue leyendo →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":73,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-403","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-science-and-music"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/73"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=403"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":853,"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/403\/revisions\/853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wp.icmm.csic.es\/within-experimental-error\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}