Sounds of Our Times: Two Hundred Years of Acoustics

In 1800, the study of acoustics consisted of z number of isolated areas-music, the ear and the voice, vibrations, and the passage of sound through air. In the years that have followed, the field has expanded enormously. Legendary for its interdisciplinary character, the field today ranges across and draws upon the disciplines of physics, geology, engineering, physiology, and now includes such varied areas of study as medical diagnosis and treatment, music and the design of musical instruments and listening spaces, and the passage of sound waves through every conceivable medium. Sounds of Our Times : Two Hundred Years of Acoustics, the first complete history of acoustics over the past two hundred years, described by one of the preeminent members of today's acoustical community, presents a fascinating portrait of the work of brilliant individuals, the development and use of technology, in the interactions of different parts of the field. The author steers a course between the largely anecdotal history of Dayton C Miller (Anecdotal History of the Science of Sound, 1935) and the meticulously researched effort of F.V. Hunt (Origins in Acoustics, published posthumously in 1978). Sounds of Our Times : Two Hundred Years of Acoustics begins after the period covered by Hunt and follows new developments in the subject almost up to the present day. It also chronicles the development of organizations of acousticians, especially that of the Acoustical Society of America, and contains many historical illustrations never before available in a single volume.