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Nice! I'll have to check some of those videos out. I like that the name is Dr. N. Butyl Lithium. That's awesome!

This is my favorite chemistry song and it involves piano too

Tom Lehrer - The Element Song

It's a great channel, so enjoy!

How does he say some of those so fast? It's a hoot. Thanks for the link.

That's funny because I do have a degree in chemistry and I really don't like chemistry very much. I wish I'd majored in music like my piano teacher wanted me to.

Laura

Jason, thank you for pointing out that my glass is half full and not half empty! This thread has assured me that I am not alone and perhaps I will be lucky enough to find some local souls to be friends with. In the meantime, PW satisfies my need for intelligent conversation.

How hard would it be to take the carbon out of carbon dioxide so you'd end up with just C and O2? That might get Al Gore off our backs about global warming -- or it would if CO2 was really the villian. Anyhow, somebody told me it could be done with solar energy but I think he may have been blowing smoke.

A big revelation for me is just how many of us are involved in science—"hard" science, too, not social sciences like ... erm ... linguistics.

Once upon a time I thought I might be, too, but I could barely get through calculus my freshman year.

Steven

There are certainly a lot of scientists here. Physics almost did me in but luckily I made it through. I do recall getting a 25 out of 100 on a test. My friend, a math major, got a 15 on the same test. Not a fun semester!

I wish I had taken a few music classes as an undergraduate but luckily now I do have the opportunity to sit in on some of the music classes at the university where I work.

What a thread! I guess this topic strikes a chord with many!

Perhaps piano player's brains are indeed wired differently. And the themes brought up here are resonating with the like minded.

Based on the responses, aside from those who are professionally involved with the piano or the piano industry, is there a bias towards the practitioners, students and teachers of the sciences?

Perhaps a statistics expert can already "see" the answer.

Hehehe, probably better to not open that can of worms here.

Solar energy can do wonders.
By generating electricity, very mighty reactions can then be driven electrochemically.
Yet simpler, any green plant can generate oxygen out of carbon dioxide and produce carbohydrates.
If one really needs carbon - just thermolyze or dehydrate hydrocarbons; think of those burnt food in the oven (and the smoke)

Global warming is quite controversial to say the least (it usually happens with many things when politicians get involved)

Oh my goodness - in the time it took for me to draft out my comment - there appeared other posts observing the science bias ! This thread is really striking a chord.

There seems to be a connection with engineering as well.. I teach at a small undergraduate engineering school, and I've heard (and have witnessed) that about 50% of the students play a musical instrument (or sing), many at a very high level. Their performances at the end of each semester are amazing. How do they find the time to practice??

...Or if you are really a nerd, add 9 M sulfuric acid to table sugar. Hydrocarbon dehydration at it's best!

Simple survival. If we don't practice, we lose our minds.

There is something analytically satisfying about classical music that must appeal to a scientific mind. Several times I've heard music teachers comment how many of their most advanced adult students are scientists or medical doctors.

I definitely agree. I really enjoy learning music theory and seeing it applied in the music. It's like analyzing scientific data. I've only been playing as an adult for about 1.5 years so I'm a relatively new player. I didn't realize just how interesting theory could be before I started playing. I just spent an hour or so working through a chapter in my theory book - all about V7 chords. Learning to recognize intervals and chords and their inversions is interesting to me too.

At its best is with the concentrated sulfuric acid, which is more than 18 M.

And yet it correlates strongly with language, too, at least in my own weird mind , and not just in obvious ways like being an expressive medium with structures, rules and a lexicon.

I've always felt a deep connection with the notation and graphic elements of music. To me, a score is akin to the printed text of a story; it gives tangible form to something that's otherwise amorphous and ephemeral. I love reading music!

Steven

Indeed! But, IIRC, concentrated sulfuric acid is a gelatin at room temp and isn't easy to handle.

Me too! and I love the oversized handwritten scores of experimental composers of the 20th century, used to like to hang out at the Big Scores section of the music school library. Have you heard the quote that "music is like architecture multiplied by time" - forgotten who said it or exact wording.

Anyone notice that weird does not follow the i before e rule?
Weird.