He Started the Whole World Singing a Song

Throughout history, people from a variety of backgrounds have commented on the relationship between music and language. Several say that music transcends language; some refer to music as being another language; others believe music actually speaks. In spite of a diversity of responses, there is still a collective sense that music and language are intriguingly related—a profound, intuitive awareness of some type of bonding agent between the two. Music has also been perceived throughout history to possess meaning and power, both on a grand, cosmic level and an anthropic, human level. For the Greek philosopher Plato, music acted as something that “[implanted] cosmic harmony into the soul of humans,” while in the Old Testament of the Bible, “[w]henever the spirit from God troubled Saul, David would pick up his harp and play, and Saul would then be relieved, feel better.” Music moves listeners powerfully and communicates meaning in ways that are often difficult or impossible to express in words. In this paper, I wish to explore the essence of these musical moments and attempt to articulate why they occur from a theological framework. This framework will consist of demonstrating a connection between language and music, discussing how music is able to possess meaning, and showing that throughout the Bible, people have responded to the transcendent and immanent presence of the Triune God working in and through creation musically. With this framework in place, I will conclude this paper by discussing how music has the capacity to reveal three essential qualities of what it means to be fully human in a world where God is fully present: hope, faith, and love

On the Power of Music: Using \u27Cosmos\u27 and \u27Anthropos\u27 to Articulate a Holistic Approach to Discussing the Power of Music

Throughout history music has played an integral role in shaping both societies at large and individuals who are a part of these societies. Many of these individuals have sought not only to enjoy music by listening to it from an aesthetic paradigm, but by understanding it from a metaphysical one, probing its sonic depths and studying its emotive qualities, starting with the doctrines of music proposed by ancient Greek philosophers. However, from the doctrines of music in the ancient era up to the doctrines of music in the baroque era, one can observe a shift in the way music was perceived metaphysically. In spite of this shift, there remained a unifying idea: music moves. In this paper, I will attempt to show where this shift in musical thought occurred in history and explain its significance for present day lovers of music. By understanding the impact of this paradigm shift and having a more accurate way of approaching the perception of music in general, one is able to be more effective in realizing and appreciating the power of music in everyday life

On the Power of Music: Using \u27Cosmos\u27 and \u27Anthropos\u27 to Articulate a Holistic Approach to Discussing the Power of Music

Music is an experience that is universal to all of mankind, no matter one’s race, gender, culture, or socioeconomic status. Whether it’s beholding one of Mahler’s symphonies in Carnegie Hall or listening to the “No. 1 Top Single” on iTunes using headphones, one truth is evident: music moves. The statement “music moves” inherently possesses an implication of the \u27cosmic\u27 and the \u27anthropic’ nature of music – a holistic union of both mystery and humanity. This one truth has been the subject of an ongoing 2,000 year-old discussion that attempts to articulate the powerful reaction that results from experiencing music in all forms, beginning with the ancient Greeks of antiquity who possessed a cosmologically-grounded explanation to the power of music. However, as time moved forward, this cosmological, mysterious paradigm of the power of music slowly began to incorporate explainable and tangible anthropological articulations of the power of the music with respect to the human emotions, senses, and thoughts. This incorporation of anthropos reached a climax in the Renaissance era with the ushering in of humanism, which stripped away the mysterious and replaced the cosmologically-grounded explanation of music with the anthropologically-grounded view of naturalism. Since this profound departure from cosmos, society seems to be at a loss in articulating accurate reactions to music. This paper offers two proposals with respect to musical thought, one for society at large and one for the individual. I assert in this paper that society, in general, needs to return to an appreciation of the cosmos, the answerable, and the mysterious in nature, and that the individual needs to commence thinking holistically with respect to music—incorporating both cosmic and anthropic thought. I have reached my conclusions, assertions, and propositions based on this thesis by critically analyzing both primary and secondary resources in the form of the historical documentation methodology

Free-moving Quantitative Gamma-ray Imaging

The ability to map and estimate the activity of radiological source distributions in unknown three-dimensional environments has applications in the prevention and response to radiological accidents or threats as well as the enforcement and verification of international nuclear non-proliferation agreements. Such a capability requires well-characterized detector response functions, accurate time-dependent detector position and orientation data, an algorithmic understanding of the surrounding 3D environment, and appropriate image reconstruction and uncertainty quantification methods. We have previously demonstrated 3D mapping of gamma-ray emitters with free-moving detector systems on a relative intensity scale using a technique called Scene Data Fusion (SDF). Here we characterize the detector response of a multi-element gamma-ray imaging system using experimentally benchmarked Monte Carlo simulations and perform 3D mapping on an absolute intensity scale. We present experimental reconstruction results from hand-carried and airborne measurements with point-like and distributed sources in known configurations, demonstrating quantitative SDF in complex 3D environments.Comment: 19 pages, 5 figures, 4 supplementary figures, submitted to Scientific Reports - Natur

On the Power of Music: Using 'Cosmos' and 'Anthropos' to Articulate a Holistic Approach to Discussing the Power of Music

Music is an experience that is universal to all of mankind, no matter one’s race, gender, culture, or socioeconomic status. Whether it’s beholding one of Mahler’s symphonies in Carnegie Hall or listening to the “No. 1 Top Single” on iTunes using headphones, one truth is evident: music moves. The statement “music moves” inherently possesses an implication of the 'cosmic' and the 'anthropic’ nature of music – a holistic union of both mystery and humanity. This one truth has been the subject of an ongoing 2,000 year-old discussion that attempts to articulate the powerful reaction that results from experiencing music in all forms, beginning with the ancient Greeks of antiquity who possessed a cosmologically-grounded explanation to the power of music. However, as time moved forward, this cosmological, mysterious paradigm of the power of music slowly began to incorporate explainable and tangible anthropological articulations of the power of the music with respect to the human emotions, senses, and thoughts. This incorporation of anthropos reached a climax in the Renaissance era with the ushering in of humanism, which stripped away the mysterious and replaced the cosmologically-grounded explanation of music with the anthropologically-grounded view of naturalism. Since this profound departure from cosmos, society seems to be at a loss in articulating accurate reactions to music. This paper offers two proposals with respect to musical thought, one for society at large and one for the individual. I assert in this paper that society, in general, needs to return to an appreciation of the cosmos, the answerable, and the mysterious in nature, and that the individual needs to commence thinking holistically with respect to music—incorporating both cosmic and anthropic thought. I have reached my conclusions, assertions, and propositions based on this thesis by critically analyzing both primary and secondary resources in the form of the historical documentation methodology