Chladni plate vibrations bridged science and mysticism around 1800.

Evidence

This idea of a “vibratory universe” has not died away. If you Google that phrase, you will get many websites physicists think of as crackpot; the mysticism side of this idea is as strong as ever. In fact, the vibrating plates of Chladni became enormously popular around 1800. These are taken up in section 15.4 and seem to have provided a segue between the scientific and the mystical that has lasted to this day. It is well-known that Hans Christian Ørsted, the discoverer of electromagnetism and an unassailably brilliant scientist, took off in a mystical direction for quite a while after he saw and heard Chladni plate vibrations. — Eric J. Heller, Why You Hear What You Hear- An…, 19

Categorization

• XREF: Chladni figures connect to cymatics, Ernst Chladni’s acoustics, and the resonance-plate tradition later taken up by Hans Jenny.
• QUESTION: Why did visual/audible vibration patterns trigger mysticism even in brilliant scientists like Orsted? Worth tracing the history.