Stephon Alexander is a professor of theoretical physics, the director for the Brown Theoretical Physics Center, and an established jazz musician. He is the author of Fear of a Black Universe, and his work has been featured by the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, and many other outlets. He lives in Rhode Island.
"The Jazz of Physics is a cornucopia of music, string theory, and
cosmology. Stephon takes his reader on a journey through hip hop,
jazz, to new ideas in our understanding of the first moment of the
big bang. It is a book filled with passion, joy and
insight."--David Spergel, Princeton University
"A riveting firsthand account of the power of intuitive and
unconscious in the process of scientific discovery. Being both
top-notch physicist and jazz musician, Stephon Alexander has a
unique voice. Listening to him, you will hear the music of the
Universe."--Edward Frenkel, author of Love and Math
"Alexander gives an engaging account of his uncertainties and
worries as he made his way in the highly competitive world of
theoretical physics, seeking to acquire the 'chops' needed to deal
with the formidable mathematics of his day job along with those
needed to solo on the sax after dark... Mr. Alexander's rhapsodic
excitement is infectious."--Peter Pesic, Wall Street Journal
"Alexander's book, The Jazz of Physics, explores the resonance
between science and music to a depth that far surpasses other works
on the same concept."--New Criterion
"Groundbreaking... Alexander illustrates his points with colorful
examples, ranging from the Big Bang to the eye of a galactic
hurricane."--Down Beat
"I'll forever be grateful to musician/physicist Stephon
Alexander... He'll help you see how our awe-inspiring universe is
on a never-ending, cosmological riff."--Felix Contreras, NPR
"In the most engaging chapters of this book -- part memoir, part
history of science, part physics popularization and part jazz
lesson - Dr. Alexander ventures far out onto the cutting edge of
modern cosmology, presenting a compelling case for vibration and
resonance being at the heart of the physical structure we find
around us, from the smallest particle of matter to the largest
clusters of galaxies... His report on the state of research into
the structure and history of the universe - his own academic field
- makes for compelling reading, as does his life story."--Dan
Tepfer, New York Times
"In this loosely autobiographical meditation, Alexander explores
resonances between music and physics in Pythagoras's 'music of the
spheres, ' Albert Einstein's love of music, Coltrane's love of
Einstein, and his own ideas as a theoretical physicist and jazz
saxophonist. It's a vast, cosmic theme that includes quantum
mechanics, superstring theory, the Big Bang, the evolution of
galaxies, and the process of scientific theorizing itself...
Alexander's enthusiasm for his subject is infectious."--Kirkus
"In this very creative work Stephon Alexander leads us through his
remarkable journey from jazz musician to theoretical physics, from
the music of the spheres to string theory."--Professor Leon N.
Cooper, Laureate of the Nobel Prize in Physics
"Interwoven with solid physics and personal anecdotes, the book
does an admirable job of bringing together modern jazz and modern
physics."--Physics World's Books of the Year
"Is the universe a musical instrument that plays itself? It is
according to Stephon Alexander, a string theorist who shares his
journey from a crime ridden junior high school to the upper
echelons of physics and jazz. Moving fluidly from T dualities to
John Cage, he tells how his two worlds blended together like a
stereoscopic vision-a sonic cosmos where Einstein and Coltrane
naturally meet, and where intuition and improvisation are as
important as technique. Whether he's hanging with Brian Eno or
Brian Greene, Alexander never loses sight of the math or the
melodies, never condescends to his reader but rather uses his own
childlike awe and personal charm to take us into the details of
chords and equations. It's impossible to resist following him as he
'solos with the equations of D-branes' on paper napkins in jazz
clubs, searching for the eloquent underlying harmonies that brought
the universe (and us) into being"--KC Cole, author of Something
Incredibly Wonderful Happens
"Music lovers are at high risk of being inspired by this
exploration of the connections between music and physics...
Alexander elegantly charts the progress of science from the
ancients through Copernicus and Kepler to Einstein (a piano-player)
and beyond, making it clear that what we call genius has a lot to
do with convention-challenging courage, a trait shared by each
age's great musicians as well."--Keith Blanchard, Wall Street
Journal
"Music, physics and mathematics have lived in tune since Pythagoras
and Kepler, but Prof. Alexander's book creates a new and powerful
resonance, coupling the improvisational world of Jazz to the
volatile personality of quantum mechanics, and making the frontiers
of cosmology and quantum gravity reverberate like in no other
book."--João Magueijo, author of Faster Than the Speed of Light
"Stephon Alexander has written an entertaining and important book
about how science is becoming more like improvised music. Young
musicians and scientists will find a deeper way to connect with
their work in its pages. There is also a message about scientific
progress: It isn't just about a sterile quest to make a better
equation, but also the struggle to build deeper connections between
people and between us and the universe at large."--Jaron Lanier,
author of Who Owns the Future?
"Stephon Alexander takes us along on his twinned quest to discover
the fundamental principles of physics and of jazz performance and
composition. He is a great storyteller and he paints vivid
portraits of the masters of music and science who guide him on his
search, which leads to a revelation of a common pattern and
symmetry in the universes created by John Coltrane and Albert
Einstein. If you spend one evening of your life contemplating the
relationship between art and science, spend it with this
book."--Lee Smolin, author of The Trouble with Physics
"The book's attempt to bring together modern jazz and modern
physics strikes me as admirable... It is an intriguing comparison,
and it certainly seems fresher than drawing analogies between
classical music and classical physics... Time to put on some
Coltrane and riff some new research ideas?"--Trevor Cox, Physics
World
"This book could just as well be called The Joy of Physics because
what leaps out from it is Stephon Alexander's delight and curiosity
about the cosmos, and the deep pleasure he finds in exploring it.
True to the jazz he loves so much, Stephon is an intellectual
improviser riffing with ideas and equations. It's a pleasure to
witness."--Brian Eno, artist, composer, and producer
"Marvelous."--New Scientist
"Alexander's account of his own rise from humble beginnings to
produce contributions to both cosmology and jazz is as interesting
as the marvelous connections he posits between jazz and
physics."--Publishers Weekly
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