Big Book Journey
A Journey Through Chapter 1 - Bill's Story pages 1 - 16
Exploring page 10 - Music of the Spheres

The phrase "the spheres really had their music" refers to a theory of Pythagoras of Samos, the Greek mathematician and philosopher. This is the same Pythagoras who brought us the formula for calculating the length of the hypotenuse (the long side) of a right triangle. Pythagoras theorized that the pitch of a given musical note comes from the frequency of its vibration, which is still correct today. At the time, the prevailing view held that the Earth was the center of the solar system, with all other bodies orbiting it. Building on this view, Pythagoras conceived that objects in the heavens moved at different speeds, and that each made its own sound according to the frequency of its motion. He stated, "There is geometry in the humming of the strings, there is music in the spacing of the spheres." Time has proven that Pythagoras and his followers were partially correct; today, the use of radio telescopes to observe the radio waves (frequencies) emitted by stars, planets, galaxies, and other celestial bodies allows man to see beyond visual instruments.

“Musica Universalis” translates to the phrase “Music of the Spheres”. The frequencies at which different celestial bodies vibrate and the harmonic movement of the universe. The belief that Earth was the center of the universe led them to order the planets differently than later discoveries showed. They theorized that the Earth's sphere to the Moon's sphere was an entire octave. From the Moon to Mercury was just a half tone or step. Beyond the known solar system, all other stars were organized into a ring referred to as the Fixed Sphere of Stars. From it to Earth, Pythagoras assigned one octave. As the theory evolved over the centuries, astronomers eventually concluded that the music of the spheres could be heard only by the soul. Bill's biography records that his grandfather had a life-changing spiritual experience at the top of a local mountain peak. In the passage, Bill is recalling the story of this experience and references his grandfather's belief in the natural order of creation, in contrast to the rules of an organized religion.⁶