Everyone's most beloved scientist (save for maybe Carl Sagan, himself), Neil DeGrasse Tyson hosts Cosmos: A Spacetime Odyssey.
And this week, he taught us how to see sound.
NDT took us through the latest corridors of scientific understanding regarding light's spectral code--apparently, a foundational necessity for modern astrophysics, or at least according to the Atlantic's Wire.
"Science needs the light of free expression to flourish," says Tyson, and he continued that thought throughout the broadcast.
With a nod to philosophical theory, Tyson soon brought in a non-scientific personality to deal with the light of the liberal artist. Albeit dense, classical music played a big role in precisely that segment, and it's the artistic and historical connections we Classicalite are most interested in here.
Case in point: The abbey where Joseph von Fraunhofer made his greatest discovery is also where Carmina Burana was written. That is, the original set of poems later set to music by Carl Orff.
Apropos of the cosmos, "O Fortuna" from Orff's Carmina received an organ rendition to see the visible sound waves emitting from the king of all instruments.
Without full online representation (no thanks to Murdoch and Fox), you'll find Carmina's most famous tune below with the lyrics superimposed.
Now, imagine NDT talking over that. No surprise, it was a brilliant scene.
And if we find a video of Tysons meets Orff lurking around on the internet, we'll post A.S.A.P!
