To expand search, see Language and Literature. Laterally related topics: Mathematics in Language, The Development of Writing, Storytelling Traditions, Shakespeare, Language and Linguistics, and Myth and Ritual.
The Mathematics and the Liberal Arts pages are intended to be a resource for student research projects and for teachers interested in using the history of mathematics in their courses. Many pages focus on ethnomathematics and in the connections between mathematics and other disciplines. The notes in these pages are intended as much to evoke ideas as to indicate what the books and articles are about. They are not intended as reviews. However, some items have been reviewed in Mathematical Reviews, published by The American Mathematical Society. When the mathematical review (MR) number and reviewer are known to the author of these pages, they are given as part of the bibliographic citation. Subscribing institutions can access the more recent MR reviews online through MathSciNet.
Henle, Jim. Classical mathematics. Baroque mathematics. Romantic mathematics? Mathematics jazz! Also atonal, New Age, minimalist, and punk mathematics. Amer. Math. Monthly 103 (1996), no. 1, 18--29. SC: 01A99 (00A30 00A69), MR: 1 369 148.
Music is often broken into Renaissance, Baroque, Classical, and Romantic periods. This classification is not used so consistently in art and literature, and is rarely applied to mathematics, but the author finds reasonable ways to define these eras for the other disciplines as well. He finds that the periods correspond closely in art and literature, and that they correspond closely in music and mathematics, but that the periods in the latter lag significantly behind the periods in the former. This may suggest some linking between the two fields, the exact nature of which still remains to be determined. The author makes a few good-natured guesses about relationships between mathematics and other types of music as well. Atonalism is associated with formalism, jazz with topology, and, in essence, new age with dynamical systems. A very enjoyable article, and could be a good reading assignment for students in either a History of Mathematics or a Philosophy of Mathematics course. Closely related topics: Music, Art History, and Philosophy.