This thesis completes the English translation of Descartes's works influential to the history of acoustics and music theory, directly or indirectly. They include Compendium musicae (1618), Traité de l'homme (1632), Discours de la méthode and La dioptrique (1637), and Les passions de l'ame (1649). This thesis also represents the only translation of all Descartes's responses to questions on music and the science of sound raised by Marin Mersenne, the renowned French music theorist and scientific thinker. Mersenne corresponded extensively with men prominent in scientific and musical circles both in France and throughout Europe: Giovanni Doni, Isaac Beeckman, André Villiers, Pierre Gassend, André Rivet, Jean-Baptiste van Helmont, Thomas Hobbes and Francis Bacon, etc. Although few of Mersenne's own letters are extant, at present the ongoing publication of the responses to his correspondence numbers thirteen volumes. Of Mersenne's other works related to music, only two are translated into English: the second book of Harmonie universelle entitled \"The Books on Instruments,\" and the second book of his Traité (1627).
-Thesis excerpt-
","abstract_html":"<p>This thesis completes the English translation of Descartes's works influential to the history of acoustics and music theory, directly or indirectly. They include Compendium musicae (1618), Traité de l'homme (1632), Discours de la méthode and La dioptrique (1637), and Les passions de l'ame (1649). This thesis also represents the only translation of all Descartes's responses to questions on music and the science of sound raised by Marin Mersenne, the renowned French music theorist and scientific thinker. Mersenne corresponded extensively with men prominent in scientific and musical circles both in France and throughout Europe: Giovanni Doni, Isaac Beeckman, André Villiers, Pierre Gassend, André Rivet, Jean-Baptiste van Helmont, Thomas Hobbes and Francis Bacon, etc. Although few of Mersenne's own letters are extant, at present the ongoing publication of the responses to his correspondence numbers thirteen volumes. Of Mersenne's other works related to music, only two are translated into English: the second book of Harmonie universelle entitled "The Books on Instruments," and the second book of his Traité (1627).</p> <p>-Thesis excerpt-</p>","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Stetson, Keith Elisabeth"],"institution":null,"degree_name":"Master of Arts","degree_level":"Master's Thesis","degree_discipline":"Humanities","degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":1982,"date_issued":"1982-01-01T08:00:00Z","date_published":"1982-01-01T08:00:00Z","updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:51Z","subjects":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"languages":[],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/188","outbound_label":"Repository record","outbound_source":"dc:identifier"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Stetson, Keith Elisabeth"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"thesis:degree_discipline","label":"Discipline","values":["Humanities"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_level","label":"Degree Level","values":["Master's Thesis"]},{"key":"thesis:degree_name","label":"Degree Name","values":["Master of Arts"]}]},{"id":"subjects_keywords","label":"Subjects and Keywords","entries":[{"key":"dc:subject","label":"Dc Subject","values":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier","label":"Identifier","values":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/188"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["This thesis completes the English translation of Descartes's works influential to the history of acoustics and music theory, directly or indirectly. They include Compendium musicae (1618), Traité de l'homme (1632), Discours de la méthode and La dioptrique (1637), and Les passions de l'ame (1649). This thesis also represents the only translation of all Descartes's responses to questions on music and the science of sound raised by Marin Mersenne, the renowned French music theorist and scientific thinker. Mersenne corresponded extensively with men prominent in scientific and musical circles both in France and throughout Europe: Giovanni Doni, Isaac Beeckman, André Villiers, Pierre Gassend, André Rivet, Jean-Baptiste van Helmont, Thomas Hobbes and Francis Bacon, etc. Although few of Mersenne's own letters are extant, at present the ongoing publication of the responses to his correspondence numbers thirteen volumes. Of Mersenne's other works related to music, only two are translated into English: the second book of Harmonie universelle entitled \"The Books on Instruments,\" and the second book of his Traité (1627).
-Thesis excerpt-
"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Descartes' Letters to Pere marin Mersenne, Le Minime, on the Science of Sound and Music, 1629-40"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Stetson, Keith Elisabeth"],"dc:description.abstract":["This thesis completes the English translation of Descartes's works influential to the history of acoustics and music theory, directly or indirectly. They include Compendium musicae (1618), Traité de l'homme (1632), Discours de la méthode and La dioptrique (1637), and Les passions de l'ame (1649). This thesis also represents the only translation of all Descartes's responses to questions on music and the science of sound raised by Marin Mersenne, the renowned French music theorist and scientific thinker. Mersenne corresponded extensively with men prominent in scientific and musical circles both in France and throughout Europe: Giovanni Doni, Isaac Beeckman, André Villiers, Pierre Gassend, André Rivet, Jean-Baptiste van Helmont, Thomas Hobbes and Francis Bacon, etc. Although few of Mersenne's own letters are extant, at present the ongoing publication of the responses to his correspondence numbers thirteen volumes. Of Mersenne's other works related to music, only two are translated into English: the second book of Harmonie universelle entitled \"The Books on Instruments,\" and the second book of his Traité (1627).
-Thesis excerpt-
"],"dc:identifier":["https://scholar.dominican.edu/humanities-print-theses/188"],"dc:subject":["Humanities","Arts and Humanities"],"dc:title":["Descartes' Letters to Pere marin Mersenne, Le Minime, on the Science of Sound and Music, 1629-40"],"thesis:degree_discipline":["Humanities"],"thesis:degree_level":["Master's Thesis"],"thesis:degree_name":["Master of Arts"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T02:05:51Z"}