Meyer patiently introduces children to many of the cutting-edge theories and principles of sound that were prevalent in the late nineteenth century, including topics such as reflection, transmission, vibration, and velocity, as well as the ubiquitous cladistic figures, along with many newly discovered techniques for making sound visible. But beyond providing scientific knowledge, it is surprising to see how many of these exhibits have been described as aesthetically “beautiful”, “beautiful”, or “harmonious”. Meyer clearly understood both the aesthetic and intellectual value in his experiments, and he encouraged his young readers to do the same. For example, after incorporating a pendulum that registered the vibrations of various musical intervals, Mayer advised him to frame the curves produced by the pendulum by fixing them on glass, which would both “make beautiful ornaments for the window or mantel, and remind you that you are becoming an experimenter”. Another “very beautiful and fascinating experiment” involved sprinkling silica powder into a wooden whistle, while elsewhere he describes the delight of discovering “maze-like beautiful little luminous flowers” produced by singing cones piped directly into the König’s flame. While science in the twenty-first century is often thought of as an unbiased and purely rational endeavor, in these books beauty and scientific knowledge go hand in hand.
