Waves Passing in the Night: Walter Murch in the Land of the Astrophysicists

by Lawrence Weschler

From Pulitzer Prize nominee Lawrence Weschler, a fascinating profile of Walter Murch, a film legend and amateur astrophysicist whose investigations could reshape our understanding of the universe.

For film aficionados, Walter Murch is legendary--a three-time Academy Award winner, arguably the most admired sound and film editor in the world for his work on Apocalypse Now , The Godfather trilogy, The English Patient , and many others. Outside of the studio, his mind is wide-ranging; his passion, pursued for several decades, has been astrophysics, in particular the rehabilitation of Titius-Bode, a long-discredited 18th century theory regarding the patterns by which planets and moons array themselves in gravitational systems across the universe. Though as a consummate outsider he's had a hard time attracting any sort of comprehensive hearing from professional astrophysicists, Murch has made advances that even some of them find intriguing, including a connection between Titius Bode and earlier notions--going back past Kepler and Pythagorus--of musical harmony in the heavens. Unfazed by rejection, ever probing, Murch perseveres in the highest traditions of outsider science.

Lawrence Weschler brings Murch's quest alive in all its seemingly quixotic, yet still plausible, splendor, probing the basis for how we know what we know, and who gets to say. "The wholesale rejection of alternative theories has repeatedly held back the progress of vital science," Weschler observes, citing early twentieth-century German amateur Alfred Wegener, whose speculations about continental drift were ridiculed at first, only to be accepted as fact decades later. Theoretical physicist Lee Smolin says "It is controversy that brings science alive"--and Murch's quest does that in spades. His fascination with the way the planets and their moons are arranged opens up the field of celestial mechanics for general readers, sparking an awareness of the vast and (to us) invisible forces constantly at play in the universe.

Genres: Science, Nonfiction, Film, Music

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 31, 2017

About the author

Lawrence Weschler, a graduate of Cowell College of the University of California at Santa Cruz (1974), was for over twenty years (1981-2002) a staff writer at The New Yorker, where his work shuttled between political tragedies and cultural comedies. He is a two-time winner of the George Polk Award (for Cultural Reporting in 1988 and Magazine Reporting in 1992) and was also a recipient of Lannan Literary Award (1998).

His books of political reportage include The Passion of Poland (1984); A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers (1990); and Calamities of Exile: Three Nonfiction Novellas (1998).

His “Passions and Wonders” series currently comprises Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees: A Life of Contemporary Artist Robert Irwin (1982); David Hockney’s Cameraworks (1984); Mr. Wilson’s Cabinet of Wonder (1995); A Wanderer in the Perfect City: Selected Passion Pieces (1998) Boggs: A Comedy of Values (1999); Robert Irwin: Getty Garden (2002); Vermeer in Bosnia (2004); and Everything that Rises: A Book of Convergences (February 2006). Mr. Wilson was shortlisted for both the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award; and Everything that Rises received the 2007 National Book Critics Circle Award for Criticism.



Recent books include a considerably expanded edition of Seeing is Forgetting the Name of the Thing One Sees, comprising thirty years of conversations with Robert Irwin; a companion volume, True to Life: Twenty Five Years of Conversation with David Hockney; Liza Lou (a monograph out of Rizzoli); Tara Donovan, the catalog for the artist’s recent exhibition at Boston’s Institute for Contemporary Art, and Deborah Butterfield, the catalog for a survey of the artist’s work at the LA Louver Gallery. His latest addition to “Passions and Wonders,” the collection Uncanny Valley: Adventures in the Narrative, came out from Counterpoint in October 2011.

Weschler has taught, variously, at Princeton, Columbia, UCSC, Bard, Vassar, Sarah Lawrence, and NYU, where he is now distinguished writer in residence at the Carter Journalism Institute.

He recently graduated to director emeritus of the New York Institute for the Humanities at NYU, where he has been a fellow since 1991 and was director from 2001-2013, and from which base he had tried to start his own semiannual journal of writing and visual culture, Omnivore. He is also the artistic director emeritus, still actively engaged, with the Chicago Humanities Festival, and curator for New York Live Ideas, an annual body-based humanities collaboration with Bill T. Jones and his NY Live Arts. He is a contributing editor to McSweeney’s, the Threepeeny Review, and The Virginia Quarterly Review; curator at large of the DVD quarterly Wholphin; (recently retired) chair of the Sundance (formerly Soros) Documentary Film Fund; and director of the Ernst Toch Society, dedicated to the promulgation of the music of his grandfather, the noted Weimar emigre composer. He recently launched “Pillow of Air,” a monthly “Amble through the worlds of the visual” column in The Believer.

(from www.lawrenceweschler.com)

Reviews

[Glen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I won this book in a goodreads drawing.

A combination biography and discussion of the subject's pet theory in the field of astronomy.

Walter Murch is an important figure in film soundtracks. He is an oscar winner, and even came up with some of the basic rules of the field.

At some point, he used his expertise in the field of astronomy, attempting to revive the Titius-Bode theory of planetary orbits. Interesting reading, but very complicated. His attempts to get scientists to even engage is nearly herculean.

A good book, but surprisingly heavy reading.

[Andrew]

Another one of Weschler's books about all-American weirdos. We have Walter Murch, an all-around bright guy who's got some interesting theories, and who has to confront one of the central problems of scientific progress... that in order to advance, we have to move from one paradigm to the next, but the fact is that unless there's a crisis point, the entire scientific community is likely to resist you, and to be fair, most of the people proposing new paradigms are absolute cranks. Weschler's about as good a guide as any, and as far as popular writing about scientific subjects, this is a helluva lot better than any of that Malcolm Gladwell shit.

[Holly · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another strange and fascinating book by Lawrence Weschler. It was Weschler who got me interested in Walter Murch in the first place (in The Uncanny Valley), and though this isn't about film, as it turns out, it is wonderfully nontraditional and surprising.

So Murch: the famous film and sound editor who is also an irrepressible auto-didact and Renaissance Man with an a deep interest in gravitational astro-acoustics. Murch thinks he's onto something truly significant about the solar system's planets and orbiting bodies, having to do with "Titius-Bode undulations." His discoveries involve standing waves and "underlying modulations" in the fabric of space-time that are comparable to music (a Music of the Spheres). And no, I don't really understand it.

The book begins with a brief introduction to Murch's radical "discovery," followed by a chapter on his biography and background, then a dive into the astro-physics. Most of this was over my head, but I followed the general idea with that tenuous floating comprehension one can feel when reading super-difficult theory or the like, as if you're just barely grasping it but you can sort of get it, and if you get interrupted by the smallest whisper you'll lose the thread, and you wouldn't be able to explain what your reading to anyone, but as long as you read fast you are hovering over it and can keep reading to the next paragraph.....

The second half of the book is a conversational essay that delves into how science works, and this I found most enjoyable, nearly unputdownable. Weschler admires Murch, comprehends a lot more of his theory than I did, and begins surveying several physicists about Murch's ideas: does he have something? can this be explained? But every "real" scientist dismisses Murch outright, because Murch doesn't have a PhD, or because he hasn't published in peer-reviewed journals, doesn't have the mathematical background, might be a crank .... (but isn't). These conversations are interspersed with Murch's rejoinders (Weschler sends him emails and Murch writes erudite thoughtful replies) - Murch asks only that perhaps someone could consider what he's suggesting. He's quite humble and simply sees these patterns and wants others to explain them, study them, respond to them, disprove them. But they won't even touch it - and their reasons are sometimes admirable and reasonable, at other times dubious.

Murch knows about apophenia (the human tendency to perceive meaningful patterns within random data), but he still is curious, because the patterns are there. And just maybe as a knowledgeable outsider he notices something the mainline physicists have been trained to ignore (like Alfred Wegener and his disparaged continental drift theory). The book doesn't resolve anything, that is not its purpose, and Murch is probably wrong anyway. But what if? There is so much to think about here.

[Jina · Rating 3 out of 5]

While I found Murch’s theory interesting, this book was an odd read to me. The first half of the book is dedicated to Murch’s personal life and his theory. The second half of the book is about Lawrence reaching out to astrophysicists, on Murch’s behalf, to get their feedback, relay that back to Murch and hear Murch’s rebuttals. I kept waiting for there to be some sort of resolve or concluding thought… and that never came. It was literally just pages of back and forth with the occasional scientific article to consider (in Murch’s favor). While one could argue every non-fiction science book that I’ve read is strictly theory, I’m typically given some sort of closure. The open ending to this piece left me feeling quite perplexed; almost more like a friend was bring me up to speed on some current drama. Sure, Murch could be right and (as he willingly acknowledges) he could be wrong. Ultimately, the point of the book is, no astrophysicists has been able to soundly dismiss Murch’s theory as no one will really look into it simply because he, himself, is not an astrophysicists and therefore doesn’t know how to present it in their “language”.

[BooksRgood]

some people are too smart for their own good? Nah that isn't right. some people are curious and smart and talented in more than one field of endeavor - like music & astrophysics. Like Brian May of Queen . But this book is about Walter Murch (music & movie guy who doesnt have an advanced degree in astrophysics) musing about the discredited theory of Titius & Bode that finds patterns in where orbiting celestial bodies (planets around start, moons around planets, etc) are - suggesting perhaps a physical shape to parts of the universe around a big star or planet such that the orbiting bodies more often than not end up in the same spots/ratios are consistent. And that these mathematical relationships are echoed in music - the music of the spheres perhaps?

Yes I think that is a better descriptor than 'some people are too smart for their own good.'

I skimmed some of the math details (all of them?) but LW is a solid writer; space and the idea of math are compelling subjects and there are some enjoyable quotations -for example:

"How things seem to seem is not enough. We must somehow discover how things REALLY seem!" Bertrand Russell

[Brendan Baldwin · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this book as an anti-authoritarian who desperately and compulsively sides with and roots for the outsider perspective on matters of the consensus reality accepted as fact by the conformant masses. I felt this book was a fair take on the somewhat quixotic quest of Murch on the Titius Bode Law/Hypothesis, though I felt myself railing against the implied and explicit conclusions of the author at the end-- I wanted this quest to end in total vindication or leave the possibility more open, in keeping with the aspirations and character of his subject. In that regard I give this book 4 stars because I think the author allows his own fear of being seen as crazy to keep him from fully embracing the full potential of Walter's intuition. That said, this book is a quick read and full of great information and story. (Just don't let the sun go down on your dreams!)

[Lee Barry · Rating 2 out of 5]

Weschler is a fantastic writer, and I absolutely loved his book on Robert Irwin. Read that one. I felt this one besmirches Murch in some ways. It is a handsome book, with lots of photographs and illustrations, but many of them seem unnecessary. Do we need a photo of Lee Smolin and Edgar Allen Poe? (2.5 stars)

[Anna Wayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting read with a complex but rich history. Weschler writes of philosophy, art, music, film, and astronomy in a way that any reader will find some connection to the book, and leave it with many more ideas opened to them.

[Anne-Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Walter Murch is legendary-- the most admired sound editor in the world. Outside of the film studio he has wide interests. He once told me this theory in great detail: although he is very good at sharing ideas clearly, he was so finely specific, that he lost me after about 10 minutes. (Even reading the book, my mind still glazed over here and there. However, JS was able to follow it, no problem).

[Aengus · Rating 4 out of 5]

Walter Murch is a unique figure in Hollywood. He has won the Academy Award for both sound design and cinematography; he's also written and directed films. In 1994, reading Arthur Koestler's "The Sleepwalkers", a history of scientific innovation, he came upon the now discredited Titius-Bode Law.
This theory posits that planets will spaced twice as far from the sun than the previous planet. Dismissed by professional physicists as numerology, it's been dusted off and re-examined by Murch, who's spent the last 20 years trying to rehabilitate it. It resonated with Murch because it almost directly corresponds with the Pythagorean concept of the harmony of the spheres, i.e., that the universe is constructed to a musical scale.
Lawrence Weschler's "Waves Passing in the Night" describes Murch's adventures trying to get a credible scientist to take his examination of this theory seriously. All the professors Weschler contacts have very legitimate reasons for dismissing Murch out of hand. They're also universally condescending. In the 19th century, most scientific breakthroughs came from passionate amateurs like Alexander Von Humboldt and Alexander Wegener. Today's professors are too busy with tenure committees and grant writing to bother fact checking a potential crank, even one as well known as Murch. The mandarins of academia come off as groupthinking technocrats guarding their territory. Weschler interviews science writer and "lapsed physicist" Margaret Wertheim, who describes going to a fringe science convention, followed attendance at a string theory conference for professional scientists. Guess which one she found loopier. "Waves Passing in the Night" is a brief, well written account of a brilliant polymath on a (possibly misguided) quest for scientific truth.