I haven't read neither the book nor the reviews, but after composing a nice long reply to AnnaS and the etc... I mistakenly erased it (grrrrr)... but I think I remember the punch line.

"...At the heart of their dispute is the question of how the tones of a musical scale should be selected."

After all of that dispute they'll come up with the answer *they knew all along - - - "By ear".