Youn Kim's monograph, History of Western Music Theory (2006, printed in Korean), examines various Western music theoretical writings and systems from approximately the sixteenth century to the present. It is one of the few books on the history of Western music theory written by a single author. Attempting to provide a monolithic narrative is, however, far from the author's intention. The book takes a more comprehensive approach rather than following the chronological sequence. While generally following the sequential and topical scheme of the traditional historical narrative, the book also assimilates the "thematic" approach by examining history of music theory through several recurring ideas or models, such as "nature," "number," and "science."