Marin Mersenne
{{for|the primes named after Marin Mersenne|Mersenne prime}}
Marin Mersenne,
Marin Mersennus or
le Père Mersenne (
September 8,
1588 –
September 1,
1648) was a
French theologian,
philosopher,
mathematician and
music theorist, often referred to as the "father of
acoustics" {{Harvcol|Bohn|1988|pp=225}}.
Life
Marin Mersenne (pronounced Mehr-SENN) was born of peasant parents near
Oizé,
Maine (present day
Sarthe). He was educated at
Le Mans and at the
Jesuit College of La Flèche. On
July 17,
1611, he joined the
Minim Friars, and, after studying
theology and
Hebrew in
Paris received his full
holy orders in 1613.
Anatomy at
Nevers but returned to
Rome in 1620 at the convent of
L'Annonciade. There, with other kindred spirits such as
Descartes,
Étienne Pascal,
Gilles de Roberval and
Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, he studied
mathematics and music. He corresponded with
Giovanni Doni,
Constantijn Huygens and other scholars in
Italy,
England and
Holland. For four years he devoted himself entirely to philosophic and theological writing, and published
Quaestiones celeberrimae in Genesim (1623);
L'Impieté des déistes (1624);
La Vérité des sciences (
Truth of the Sciences against the Sceptics, 1624). It is sometimes incorrectly stated that he was a Jesuit. He was educated by Jesuits, but he never joined the Society of Jesus. He taught theology and philosophy at Nevers and Berlin. In 1635 Mersenne met with
Tommaso Campanella, but concluded that he could "teach nothing in the sciences (...) but still he has a good memory and a fertile imagination." Mersenne asked if
René Descartes wanted Campanella to come to Holland to meet him, but Descartes declined. He visited Germany fifteen times, in 1640, 1641 and 1645.He died through complications arising from a
lung abscess.
Work
Quaestiones celeberrimae in Genesim (1623)
It was written as a commentary on the book of
Genesis and comprises uneven sections headed by verses from the first three chapters of that book. At first sight the book may appear to be a collection of treatises on various miscellaneous topics. However Robert Lenoble has shown that the principle of unity in the work is a diatribe against
magical and
divinatory arts,
cabalism,
animistic and
pantheistic philosophies. He mentions
Martin Del Rio's
Investigations into Magic and criticises
Marsilio Ficino for claiming power for images and characters. He condemns astral magic and
astrology and the
anima mundi a concept popular amongst
renaissance neo-platonists. Whilst allowing for a mystical interpretation of the Cabala, he wholeheartedly condemned its magical application - particularly to
angelology. He also criticises
Pico della Mirandola,
Cornelius Agrippa and
Francesco Gorgio with
Robert Fludd as his main target. Fludd responded with
Sophia cum moria certamen (1626), wherein Fludd admits his involvement with the
Rosicrucians. The anonymous
Summum bonum (1629), another critique of Mersenne, is an openly Rosicrucian text. The cabalist
Jacques Gaffarel joined Fludd's side, while
Pierre Gassendi defended Mersenne.
Other
Mersenne is remembered today thanks to his association with the
Mersenne primes. However, he was not primarily a mathematician; he wrote about
music theory and other subjects. He edited works of
Euclid,
Archimedes, and other Greek mathematicians. But perhaps his most important contribution to the advance of learning was his extensive correspondence (in
Latin, of course) with mathematicians and other scientists in many countries. At a time when the
scientific journal had not yet come into being, Mersenne was the center of a network for exchange of information.His philosophical works are characterized by wide scholarship and the narrowest theological orthodoxy. His greatest service to philosophy was his enthusiastic defence of Descartes, whose agent he was in Paris and whom he visited in exile in the
Netherlands. He submitted to various eminent Parisian thinkers a manuscript copy of the
Meditations on First Philosophy, and defended its orthodoxy against numerous clerical critics. In later life, he gave up speculative thought and turned to scientific research, especially in mathematics, physics and astronomy. In this connection, his best known work is
Traité de l'harmonie universelle (also referred to as
Harmonie universelle) of 1636, dealing with the
theory of music and
musical instruments. It is regarded as a source of information on 17th century music, especially French music and
musicians, to rival even the works of
Pietro Cerone.One of his many contributions to
musical tuning theory was the suggestion of
as the
ratio for an
equally-tempered semitone. It was more accurate (0.44
cents sharp) than
Vincenzo Galilei's 18/17 (1.05 cents flat), and could be constructed using
straightedge and compass. Mersenne's description in the 1636
Harmonie universelle of the first absolute determination of the frequency of an audible tone (at 84 Hz) implies that he had already demonstrated that the absolute-frequency ratio of two vibrating strings, radiating a musical tone and its
octave, is 1 : 2. The perceived harmony (
consonance) of two such notes would be explained if the ratio of the air oscillation frequencies is also 1 : 2, which in turn is consistent with the source-air-motion-frequency-equivalence hypothesis.
See also
References
- {{Harvrefcol|Surname=Bohn|Given=Dennis A.|Year=1988|Title=Environmental Effects on the Speed of Sound|Journal=Journal of the Audio Engineering Society|Pages=223-231|Volume=36|Number=4}}.
Bibliography
Works by Mersenne
- Euclidis elementorum libri, etc. (Paris, 1626)
- Les Mécaniques de Galilée (Paris, 1634)
- Questions inouies ou recreations des savants (1634)
- Questions théologiques, physiques, etc. (1634)
- Harmonie universelle (Paris, 1636-7)
- Nouvelles découvertes de Galilée (1639)
- Cogitata physico-mathematica (1644)
- Universae geometriae synopsis (1644)
Works about Mersenne
External links
- {{MacTutor Biography|id=Mersenne}}
- {{CathEncy|wstitle=Marin Mersenne}}
{{1911}}
مارين ميرسينমারাঁ মের্সেনMarin MersenneMarin MersenneMarin MersenneMarin Mersenne마랭 메르센Marin MersenneMarin MersenneMarinus MersennusMarin MersenneMarin Mersenneマラン・メルセンヌMarin MersenneMarin MersenneМерсенн, МаренMarin MersenneMarin MersenneMarin MersenneMarin Mersenne马兰·梅森
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