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The music instinct : how music works and why we can't do without it
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The music instinct : how music works and why we can't do without it

by Philip Ball

This study examines the role of music in human culture and the neurological processes behind musical perception. It draws on history, mathematics, and philosophy to explain why music remains an indispensable part of the human experience.

Accession 4105 ISBN 9780199754274 Publisher Oxford University Press
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TAGS
Curated Derived
Life Sciences Music Psychology Science Social Sciences Writing
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position_updated_at
2026-06-02 20:17
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spine_text
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Metadata

Book form
LOCATION HISTORY
G:W2:6 4 Current vertical
3 days, 15 hours ago
G:W2:8 3 vertical
1 week, 1 day ago
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Updated 3 days, 15 hours ago
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Identity

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The music instinct : how music works and why we can't do without it
vernon_id
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4105
vernon_slug
the-music-instinct-how-music-works-and-why-we-cant-do-without-it-philip-ball

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Descriptive

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2010
object_type
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brief_description
From Bach fugues to Indonesian gamelan, from nursery rhymes to rock, music has cast its light onto every corner of human culture. But why music excites such deep passions, and how we make sense of musical sound at all have, until recently, remained mysterious. Now in The Music Instinct, award-winning writer Philip Ball provides the first comprehensive, accessible survey of what is known--and still unknown--about how music works its magic, and why, as much as eating and sleeping, it seems indispensable to humanity. Deftly weaving together the latest findings in brain science with history, mathematics, and philosophy, The Music Instinct not only deepens our appreciation of the music we love, but shows that we would not be ourselves without it. --Publisher

Subjects & people

authors→ author (initial fill only)
Philip Ball
tags→ tags
Science, Psychology, Medicine, Life sciences, Music, Rhetoric, Authorship, Neurology, Neurosciences, Medical sciences, Criticism, Music -- History and criticism, Music appreciation, Music -- Instruction and study, Music and science
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