Euler, Leonhard
(1707–1783)
LEONHARD EULEREULER, LEONHARDLEONHARD EULER [* 1707-† 1783] When ZARLINO developed his senario, he regarded his numbers as representatives of actual physical objects: a string twice as long as another would sound, if all other factors were equal, an octave lower. When Leonhard Euler used the same numbers, he invoked instead the notion of frequencies: if one string sounded an octave lower than another, it was because the higher-pitched string vibrated twice as fast. A mathematician of formidable…