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The romantic idea that music and the universe were somehow interlinked is an ancient one, going back to the Pythagorean conception of the ‘music of the spheres’. Though not new to the nineteenth century, such imaginative comparisons took on increasing significance during the 1830s and 1840s, especially in Britain, where visions of a harmonious universe, governed by a few divinely-ordained laws, provided an important counterweight to political radicalism and theological materialism. The links between the study of light and sound have been well explored, notably Thomas Young’s experimental inquiries, but by the mid-nineteenth century, the investigation of sound was inseparable from the broader examination of natural phenomena; especially the invisible forces of heat, light, electricity, and magnetism. My paper focuses on the writings of William Whewell, Mary Somerville, and John Herschel to explore how sound, and specifically music, provided crucial evidence to support their interpretations of nature. Each of these three authors, probably the leading British science writers of their day, was eager to project their image of a harmonious, connected universe, brought about by a benevolent Creator. While Herschel and Whewell both conceived of sound as evidence of the unity of nature, Somerville conceived of the universe as a finely-tuned organ. Within the context of political uncertainty, religious controversy, and social instability, ideals of a harmonious universe became urgent.
