Kit Taylor '92 is still deciding between the two fields. In high school, he advanced far beyond the traditional math curriculum while distinguishing himself nationally in piano and composition. An intended math major, Taylor is now considered one of the most promising young concert pianists in the country.

In an interview, Taylor says that specific math-music connections--like the 12-tone scale and the "mathematical" rhythm of music (with beats per measure that usually come in powers of two or three)--are potentially misleading. "You can find these links but they seeem contrived," he says.

Instead, the most convincing parallel is the very self-containment of both systems. "Both math and music take place in a vacuum," says Taylor. "Neither has a tight connection with reality, each has its own internal logic." This isolation may be just what math-musical individuals find so intriguing, Taylor says.

"These self-contained systems are appealing to me because they don't deal with the irrationalities of the human mind," says Taylor. "I guess I just don't find the human psyche and all the various depictions of it all that fascinating. Music fulfills an emotional need in me. But it does this by evoking emotion; not by depicting it or talking about it like literature or theater. I also don't use painting as an outlet because I am not a visual person."

Perhaps it is no accident, Taylor suggests, that math concentrators are stereotyped as sloppy and socially awkward. They tend to be "non-visual people" not especially intrigued by human psychology, he says. They are drawn, as a result, to "self-contained" systems like math and music, and also discover that music fills an emotional need.

Like most of those who were interviewed, Taylor hastens to add a disclaimer after voicing his views. "I know that there certainly seems to be a correlation," he says, "but exactly why? It's a hard thing to answer. My ideas are only speculative. In a way, it baffles me."