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Fig. 12. Demonstration of echoes in the Villa Simonetta.
curiosity and interest surrounding the Villa Simonetta, the history of which is long and troubled. Some people prefer to call it evocatively the “Villa of the Echo,” following a popular tradition that Kircher helped establish. Today the Villa Simonetta is an important cultural centre that organizes con- certs and courses.
Conclusions
Kircher’s complex symbolic universe is most expressly revealed in his machines. From appearance alone, they seem to be mere simple games, but by creating unexpected con- nections he surprises and invites the enquiring mind to ques- tion and investigate further.
The Phonurgia nova exhibits a rich and consistent play- fulness that works on several levels—the religious, mystical, esoteric and scientific. Every theorem is described with the
rigor of a geometric demonstration—hypothesis, corollary, explanatory images, solutions—but Kircher does not wish simply to extract data, but focuses on a particular element in order to formulate a law, transcribed with mathematical and geometric certainty that a particular phenomenon can be experimentally repeated.
The illusions induced by Kircherian devices are intended to provide evidence of the inadequacy of the human mind compared with the mysteries of Nature. Nevertheless, they do give us an intriguing vision of 17th century scientific concerns.
Acknowledgments
The author expresses his acknowledgment to Galia Mastromatteo, who contributed considerably to the transla- tion of the Phonurgia nova from the original Latin, to Paolo Gozza who gave precious suggestions about Kircher, and to David J. Knight, who proofread the English. [Note: This arti- cle was initially published in Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics 4, 015002 (2008)].AT
References and further reading:
1 A. Kircher, “Phonurgia nova sive conjugium mechanico- physicum artis & naturae paranympha phonosophia concinna- tum” (Kempten, R. Dreherr, 1673).
2 S. Morland, “An account of the speaking trumpet, as it hath been contrived and published by Sir Samuel Morland, Knight and Baronet,” London, an. 1673.
3 A. Kircher, “Musurgia Universalis, sive ars magna consoni et dis- soni” (2 volumes) (Roma, Francesco Corbelletti, 1650).
4 G. De Sepi, “Musaeum kircherianum,” ex officina Janssonio- Waesbergieriana, Amsterdam, 1678.
5 J. S. Kestler, “Physiologia kircheriana experimentalis,” Amsterdam, 1680.
6 P. Findlen, Athanasius Kircher, The last man who knew every- thing (Routledge, New York, 2004).
7 L. Tronchin and G. Mastromatteo, “Il meraviglioso sonoro nella Phonurgia Nova (1673) di Athanasius Kircher” (“The fantastic sound world of the Phonurgia Nova”), 34th National Congress of AIA, Florence, 2007.
Lamberto Tronchin, Assistant Professor in Environmental Physics at the University of Bologna, holds a Masters Degree in Building Engineering and a PhD in Applied Physics (Architectural Acoustics) from the University of Bologna. He has completed advanced cours- es on the mechanics of musical instruments at CISM, Udine, Italy and on noise and vibration at the University of Southampton in the UK where he has also
worked as a visiting researcher. His principal areas of research are musical acoustics and room acoustics. Dr. Tronchin was a visiting researcher at the University of Kobe
in Japan, a visiting professor at the University of Graz in Austria, Special honored International Guest at the International Workshop, “Analysis, Synthesis and Perception of Music Signals,” at Jadavpur University of Kolkata, India in 2005, at La Trobe University in Mildura (Australia) and at the International Musical Festival of Ballarat (Australia) in 2009. Dr. Tronchin is a pianist and earned a diploma in piano from the Conservatory of Reggio Emilia. He is the author of more than 140 papers and is Chair of the Musical Acoustics group of the Italian Association of Acoustics. He is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Inter-University Centre of Acoustics and Musical Research, has chaired sessions on architectural and musical acoustics during several interna- tional symposiums, and has been a referee for a number of international journals. He is the Chair of organizing and sci- entific committees of the International Advanced Course on Musical Acoustics.
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