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Martianus Capella, The Marriage of Philology and Mercury
Capella's allegorical Marriage of Philology and Mercury became one of the most highly regarded foundations for study of the seven liberal arts.
Four liberal arts, the quadrivium, were mathematical sciences, beginning with arithmetic and geometry; then music, a branch of arithmetic; and astronomy, a branch of geometry. Arithmetic and music each explored the relations between numbers (discrete), while geometry and astronomy each considered the relations between magnitudes (continuous).
Music applied arithemtical ratios over time; astronomy put geometrical figures into motion; in this way music and astronomy were sister sciences.
| The Quadrivium | ||
Numbers
(discrete) |
Magnitudes
(continuous) |
|
Static |
Arithmetic |
Geometry |
In
motion |
Music |
Astronomy (magnitudes in motion) |
These four mathematical sciences lay at the heart of the tradition of liberal arts. Are you working on a liberal arts degree?
The other three liberal arts, known as the trivium, included grammar, rhetoric, and logic.
The
Trivium |
||
Grammar |
Rhetoric |
Logic |
How to write well |
How to speak well |
How to think well |
These three liberal arts would be studied in a "grammar school," before entering the university.
Cf. Capella photo's on our Flickr site. On the title page below, can you identify the Latin names of the 7 liberal arts listed above?
Do you have a great quote for this page? Let me know! (If used, a new quote is worth 1 point extra credit)
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HSCI 3013. History
of Science to 17th century |
spellcheck.net | wordcounter.net
Many thanks to the pedagogical model developed in Mythology and Folklore and other online courses by Laura Gibbs, which have been an inspiration for this course.
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This course is currently undergoing major reconstruction to bring it into alignment with the new version of the course at Janux |
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