<HTML>In a message dated 9/24/02 9:53:44 AM Central Daylight Time, dkvander@joplin.com writes: <BLOCKQUOTE TYPE=CITE style="BORDER-LEFT: #0000ff 2px solid; MARGIN-LEFT: 5px; MARGIN-RIGHT: 0px; PADDING-LEFT: 5px">Today equal temperament is so logical and practical that musicians take it for granted.  Isacoff shows that this acceptance was plagued by controversy, including the many theorists who believed the proportions of Pythagorian relationships proved these tunings were natural and the will of God.  Later theorists offered evidence that proved the contrary, and equal temperament was finally accepted as the only natural tuning. </BLOCKQUOTE> I have the book, read it and while it is interesting, to me, it gives evidence that there really is a "Conspiracy of ET".  It jumps to conclusions on many accounts in order to support the above statement.  It offers the shocking phrase, "The Final Solution" which sends chills up my spine. It conveniently ignores all of the other kinds of temperament solutions which occurred in the 18th and 19th Centuries to support its patently incorrect premise that *all* tuning today consists of a scale where "each note is *unequivocally* equidistant from the other".  We all know this is not true, even those among us who only tune in ET. It is a nice book, yes, nicely designed and bound and is interesting reading but it mixes facts with pure fiction in an effort to deceive the reader into believing in the one and only one way to tune concept.  It seems that all the general readership reviews swallowed the ruse hook line and sinker but the book has received many critical reviews from people who were able to read between the lines and who knew that there were many omissions being made and conclusions being drawn to support its premise. I think it belongs on the shelf next to Darwin, Freud, Helmholtz and Mary Shelly's "Frankenstein".  It is Science Fiction. Bill Bremmer RPT Madison, Wisconsin <A HREF="http://www.billbremmer.com/">Click here: -=w w w . b i l l b r e m m e r . c o m =-</A> </HTML>