What if history had a sound track? What would it tell us about ourselves? Based on a thirty-part BBC Radio series and podcast, Noise explores the human dramas that have revolved around sound at various points in the last 100,000 years, allowing us to think in fresh ways about the meaning of our collective past.

Though we might see ourselves inhabiting a visual world, our lives have always been hugely influenced by our need to hear and be heard. To tell the story of sound--music and speech, but also echoes, chanting, drumbeats, bells, thunder, gunfire, the noise of crowds, the rumbles of the human body, laughter, silence, conversations, mechanical sounds, noisy neighbors, musical recordings, and radio--is to explain how we learned to overcome our fears about the natural world, perhaps even to control it; how we learned to communicate with, understand, and live alongside our fellow beings; how we've fought with one another for dominance; how we've sought to find privacy in an increasingly noisy world; and how we've struggled with our emotions and our sanity.

Oratory in ancient Rome was important not just for the words spoken but for the sounds made--the tone, the cadence, the pitch of the voice--how that voice might have been transformed by the environment in which it was heard and how the audience might have responded to it. For the Native American tribes first encountering the European colonists, to lose one's voice was to lose oneself. In order to dominate the Native Americans, European colonists went to great effort to silence them, to replace their "demonic" "roars" with the more familiar "bugles, speaking trumpets, and gongs."

Breaking up the history of sound into prehistoric noise, the age of oratory, the sounds of religion, the sounds of power and revolt, the rise of machines, and what he calls our "amplified age," Hendy teases out continuities and breaches in our long relationship with sound in order to bring new meaning to the human story.

Acoustics, the science of sound, has developed into a broad interdisciplinary field encompassing the academic disciplines of physics, engineering, psychology, speech, audiology, music, architecture, physiology, neuroscience and others. Here is an unparalleled modern handbook reflecting this richly interdisciplinary nature edited by one of the acknowledged masters in the field, Thomas Rossing.

Researchers and students benefit from the comprehensive contents spanning: animal acoustics including infrasound and ultrasound, environmental noise control, music and human speech and singing, physiological and psychological acoustics, architectural acoustics, physical and engineering acoustics, medical acoustics and ocean acoustics.

The Springer Handbook of Acoustics reviews the most important areas of acoustics, with emphasis on current research. The authors of the various chapters are all experts in their fields. Each chapter is richly illustrated with figures and tables. The latest research and applications are incorporated throughout, e.g. computer recognition and synthesis of speech, physiological acoustics, psychological acoustics, thermoacoustics, diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications and acoustical oceanography.

This new edition of the Handbook features over 11 revised and expanded chapters, new illustrations andtwo new chapters covering microphone arrays, acoustic metamaterials and acoustic emission. These improvements will make the handbook even more useful as a reference and a guide for researchers and students in every branch of acoustics.

Praise for the first edition:

"This treatise is a successful attempt to cover in one book the diverse field of acoustics, which ranges from physics to music and from formal mathematics to technological applications. ... It is this reviewer's opinion that a handbook like Rossing's, which covers the whole field of acoustics, serves a real purpose because it not only gives one a chance to see how one's specialty is covered but it also permits one to make a quick survey of other acoustical areas." (Leo Beranek, American Journal of Physics, Vol. 77 (12), December, 2009)

"The Springer Handbook of Acoustics falls into that exceptional list. ...every physics department should have a copy available." (John L. Hubisz, The Physics Teacher, Vol. 48, March, 2010)

"This handbook is an excellent addition to the acoustics literature. ... The handbook nicely covers both basics and advances in several areas of acoustics. Several chapters provide good mathematical depth, making the handbook useful as a research and technical resource. ... The accompanying CD-ROM provides the entire handbook and a large number of audio and video files, making it easy to use effectively in a classroom. Overall, a very useful educational and research resource. Summing Up: Recommended. Upper-division undergraduates through professionals." (M. G. Prasad, CHOICE, Vol. 45 (5), January, 2008)

"This book covers a wide range of topics and the inclusion of musical acoustics, computer and electronic music appeal to me (singer, song-writer, performer and recording studio co-owner). This handbook is probably well suited for an undergraduate-level introduction to an acoustics course. ... Further, there is a CD-ROM containing all the chapters in the handbook. ... The wide range of topics, inclusion of music-related chapters, eye-pleasing presentations and other useful features make this a very good book to have on your shelf." (Tim Casey, International Journal of Acoustics and Vibration, Vol. 13 (1), 2008)

"The Springer Handbook of Acoustics comprises 28 chapters written by 33 authors. ... The enclosed CD-ROM is a valuable addition as it contains ... additional material in the form of video and audio files. ... this book has much to recommend it with well presented topics and copious clear illustrations. The Handbook of Acoustics is useful as a source book for anyone who needs or wants to become familiar with the jargon and issues related to a specific subfield of acoustics ... ." (Robert I. Odom, Siam Review, Vol. 50 (3), 2008)

The Springer Handbook of Acoustics reviews the most important areas of acoustics, with emphasis on current research. The authors of the various chapters are all experts in their fields. Each chapter is richly illustrated with figures and tables. The latest research and applications are incorporated throughout, e.g. computer recognition and synthesis of speech, physiological acoustics, psychological acoustics, thermoacoustics, diagnostic imaging and therapeutic applications and acoustical oceanography.

This new edition of the Handbook features over 13 revised and expanded chapters, new illustrations and 3 new chapters covering microphone arrays, acoustic metamaterials and acoustic emission. These improvements will make the handbook even more useful as a reference and a guide for researchers and students in every branch of acoustics."

Introduction to Traveling Waves is an invitation to research focused on traveling waves for undergraduate and masters level students. Traveling waves are not typically covered in the undergraduate curriculum, and topics related to traveling waves are usually only covered in research papers, except for a few texts designed for students. This book includes techniques that are not covered in those texts. Through their experience involving undergraduate and graduate students in a research topic related to traveling waves, the authors found that the main difficulty is to provide reading materials that contain the background information sufficient to start a research project without an expectation of an extensive list of prerequisites beyond regular undergraduate coursework. This book meets that need and serves as an entry point into research topics about the existence and stability of traveling waves. Features Self-contained, step-by-step introduction to nonlinear waves written assuming minimal prerequisites, such as an undergraduate course on linear algebra and differential equations. Suitable as a textbook for a special topics course, or as supplementary reading for courses on modeling. Contains numerous examples to support the theoretical material. Supplementary MATLAB codes available via GitHub.

Composites have been studied for more than 150 years, and interest in their properties has been growing. This classic volume provides the foundations for understanding a broad range of composite properties, including electrical, magnetic, electromagnetic, elastic and viscoelastic, piezoelectric, thermal, fluid flow through porous materials, thermoelectric, pyroelectric, magnetoelectric, and conduction in the presence of a magnetic field (Hall effect). Exact solutions of the PDEs in model geometries provide one avenue of understanding composites; other avenues include microstructure-independent exact relations satisfied by effective moduli, for which the general theory is reviewed; approximation formulae for effective moduli; and series expansions for the fields and effective moduli that are the basis of numerical methods for computing these fields and moduli. The range of properties that composites can exhibit can be explored either through the model geometries or through microstructure-independent bounds on the properties. These bounds are obtained through variational principles, analytic methods, and Hilbert space approaches. Most interesting is when the properties of the composite are unlike those of the constituent materials, and there has been an explosion of interest in such composites, now known as metamaterials. The Theory of Composites surveys these aspects, among others, and complements the new body of literature that has emerged since the book was written. It remains relevant today by providing historical background, a compendium of numerous results, and through elucidating many of the tools still used today in the analysis of composite properties. This book is intended for applied mathematicians, physicists, and electrical and mechanical engineers. It will also be of interest to graduate students.

Inverse scattering theory is a major theme in applied mathematics, with applications to such diverse areas as medical imaging, geophysical exploration, and nondestructive testing. The inverse scattering problem is both nonlinear and ill-posed, thus presenting challenges in the development of efficient inversion algorithms. A further complication is that anisotropic materials cannot be uniquely determined from given scattering data. In the first edition of Inverse Scattering Theory and Transmission Eigenvalues, the authors discussed methods for determining the support of inhomogeneous media from measured far field data and the role of transmission eigenvalue problems in the mathematical development of these methods. In this second edition, three new chapters describe recent developments in inverse scattering theory. In particular, the authors explore the use of modified background media in the nondestructive testing of materials and methods for determining the modified transmission eigenvalues that arise in such applications from measured far field data. They also examine nonscattering wave numbers-a subset of transmission eigenvalues-using techniques taken from the theory of free boundary value problems for elliptic partial differential equations and discuss the dualism of scattering poles and transmission eigenvalues that has led to new methods for the numerical computation of scattering poles. This book will be of interest to research mathematicians and engineers and physicists working on problems in target identification. It will also be useful to advanced graduate students in many areas of applied mathematics.

The only updated resource on acoustic microscopy covers its use in a range of applications spanning the fields of physics, materials science, electrical engineering, medicine, and research and industry.

"Acoustic Microscopy" offers detailed coverage of:

• acoustic field structure
• output signal formation in transmission raster acoustic microscopes
• non-linear acoustic effects
• visco-elastic properties and microstructure of model systems and composites
• polymer composite materials
• microstructure and physical-mechanical properties of biological tissues
• and more"Acoustic Microscopy" is an essential reference for materials scientists, electrical engineers, radiologists, laboratory medics, test engineers, physicists, and graduate students.

Although the current dynamical system approach offers several important insights into the turbulence problem, issues still remain that present challenges to conventional methodologies and concepts. These challenges call for the advancement and application of new physical concepts, mathematical modeling, and analysis techniques. Bringing together experts from physics, applied mathematics, and engineering, Mathematical and Physical Theory of Turbulence discusses recent progress and some of the major unresolved issues in two- and three-dimensional turbulence as well as scalar compressible turbulence.

Containing introductory overviews as well as more specialized sections, this book examines a variety of turbulence-related topics. The authors concentrate on theory, experiments, computational, and mathematical aspects of Navier-Stokes turbulence; geophysical flows; modeling; laboratory experiments; and compressible/magnetohydrodynamic effects. The topics discussed in these areas include finite-time singularities and inviscid dissipation energy; validity of the idealized model incorporating local isotropy, homogeneity, and universality of small scales of high Reynolds numbers, Lagrangian statistics, and measurements; and subrigid-scale modeling and hybrid methods involving a mix of Reynolds-averaged Navier-Stokes (RANS), large-eddy simulations (LES), and direct numerical simulations (DNS).

By sharing their expertise and recent research results, the authoritative contributors in Mathematical and Physical Theory of Turbulence promote further advances in the field, benefiting applied mathematicians, physicists, and engineers involved in understanding the complex issues of the turbulenceproblem.

Contents:
1. Applied Digital Signal Processing. 2. Numerical Methods in Acoustics. 3. Source Identification and Location. 4. Modelling of Sound Propagation in the Ocean. 5. Environmental Noise Management. 6. Vehicle Noise. 7. Aircraft Compressor and Airframe Noise. 8. Active Noise Control. 9. Mobility and Impedance Methods in Structural Dynamics. 10. Finite Elements for Structural Vibration Analysis. 11. High Frequency Structural Vibration. 12. Vibration Control. 13. Optical Vibration Measurement Techniques.

Understanding Active Noise Control Provides a concise introduction to the fundamentals and applications of active control of vibration and sound for the non-expert. It is also a useful quick reference for the specialist engineer. The book emphasises the practical applications of technology, and complex control algorithms and structures are only discussed to the extent that they aid understanding. Extensive recommendations for further reading on the subject are provided, but the text will stand alone for those seeking an overview of the key issues: fundamentals, control systems, transducers, applications and possible future directions.

The current popular and scientific interest in virtual environments has provided a new impetus for investigating binaural and spatial hearing. However, the many intriguing phenomena of spatial hearing have long made it an exciting area of scientific inquiry. Psychophysical and physiological investigations of spatial hearing seem to be converging on common explanations of underlying mechanisms. These understandings have in turn been incorporated into sophisticated yet mathematically tractable models of binaural interaction. Thus, binaural and spatial hearing is one of the few areas in which professionals are soon likely to find adequate physiological explanations of complex psychological phenomena that can be reasonably and usefully approximated by mathematical and physical models. This volume grew out of the Conference on Binaural and Spatial Hearing, a four-day event held at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in response to rapid developments in binaural and spatial hearing research and technology. Meant to be more than just a proceedings, it presents chapters that are longer than typical proceedings papers and contain considerably more review material, including extensive bibliographies in many cases. Arranged into topical sections, the chapters represent major thrusts in the recent literature. The authors of the first chapter in each section have been encouraged to take a broad perspective and review the current state of literature. Subsequent chapters in each section tend to be somewhat more narrowly focused, and often emphasize the authors' own work. Thus, each section provides overview, background, and current research on a particular topic. This book is significant in that it reviews the important work during the past 10 to 15 years, and provides greater breadth and depth than most of the previous works.

This detail-oriented text is intended for engineers and applied mathematicians who must write computer programs to perform wavelet and related analysis on real data. It contains an overview of mathematical prerequisites and proceeds to describe hands-on programming techniques to implement special programs for signal analysis and other applications. From the table of contents: - Mathematical Preliminaries - Programming Techniques - The Discrete Fourier Transform - Local Trigonometric Transforms - Quadrature Filters - The Discrete Wavelet Transform - Wavelet Packets - The Best Basis Algorithm - Multidimensional Library Trees - Time-Frequency Analysis - Some Applications - Solutions to Some of the Exercises - List of Symbols - Quadrature Filter Coefficients

The advent of instruments capable of measuring sound intensity, which represents the flow of energy in sound fields, has revolutionised audio-frequency acoustical metrology. Since publication of the first edition, two International Standards for the use of sound intensity for sound source power determination, and one International Standard for sound intensity instrumentation, have also been published. A number of International Standards have also been developed.

eBook available with sample pages: 0203475380

The major aim of this book is to introduce the ways in which scientists approach and think about a phenomenon -- hearing -- that intersects three quite different disciplines: the physics of sound sources and the propagation of sound through air and other materials, the anatomy and physiology of the transformation of the physical sound into neural activity in the brain, and the psychology of the perception we call hearing. Physics, biology, and psychology each play a role in understanding how and what we hear.
The text evolved over the past decade in an attempt to convey something about scientific thinking, as evidenced in the domain of sounds and their perception, to students whose primary focus is not science. It does so using a minimum of mathematics (high school functions such as linear, logarithmic, sine, and power) without compromising scientific integrity. A significant enrichment is the availability of a compact disc (CD) containing over 20 examples of acoustic demonstrations referred to in the book. These demonstrations, which range from echo effects and filtered noise to categorical speech perception and total more than 45 minutes, are invaluable resources for making the text come alive.

The scope of this book is to present in a systematic and unified manner the ray method (in its various forms) for studying nonlinear wave propagation in situations of physical interest (essentially fluid dynamics and plasma physics). The book could be used for an advanced graduate course on nonlinear waves. It should also be of interest to applied mathematicians, physicists and engineers, working in areas related to nonlinear waves.

Here, the author, a researcher of outstanding experience in this field, summarizes and combines the recent results and findings on advanced two-phase flow modeling and numerical methods otherwise dispersed in various journals, while also providing explanations for numerical and modeling techniques previously not covered by other books. The resulting systematic and comprehensive monograph is unrivalled in its kind, serving as a reference for both researchers and engineers working in engineering as well as in environmental science.

The second edition of Predicting Outdoor Sound is an up-to-date reference on the propagation of sound close to the ground and its prediction. New content includes comparisons between predictions and data for road traffic, railway and wind turbine noise; descriptions of source characteristics in the HARMONOISE model; propagation over rough seas, parallel low walls, and lattices; outlines of numerical methods; gabion (caged stones) and sonic crystal noise barriers; meteorological effects on noise barrier performance; and the prediction requirements for auralization. The book brings together relevant theories, prediction schemes, and data, thereby providing a basis for determining what model or scheme might be applicable for any situation. It also offers a background on useful analytical approximations and the restrictions, as well as difficulties and limitations associated with engineering prediction schemes. The text should be of considerable interest to researchers in outdoor sound propagation and, more generally, it should provide a comprehensive primer on the topic for lecturers, consultants and students in acoustics and noise control.

An Up-to-Date Compendium on the Physics and Mathematics of Polarization Phenomena Now thoroughly revised, Polarized Light and the Mueller Matrix Approach cohesively integrates basic concepts of polarization phenomena from the dual viewpoints of the states of polarization of electromagnetic waves and the transformations of these states by the action of material media. Through selected examples, it also illustrates actual and potential applications in materials science, biology, and optics technology. The book begins with the basic concepts related to two- and three-dimensional polarization states. It next describes the nondepolarizing linear transformations of the states of polarization through the Jones and Mueller-Jones approaches. The authors then discuss the forms and properties of the Jones and Mueller matrices associated with different types of nondepolarizing media, address the foundations of the Mueller matrix, and delve more deeply into the analysis of the physical parameters associated with Mueller matrices. The authors proceed with introducing the arbitrary decomposition and other useful parallel decompositions, and compare the powerful serial decompositions of depolarizing Mueller matrices. They also analyze the general formalism and specific algebraic quantities and notions related to the concept of differential Mueller matrix. Useful approaches that provide a geometric point of view on the polarization effects exhibited by different types of media are also comprehensively described. The book concludes with a new chapter devoted to the main procedures for filtering measured Mueller matrices. Suitable for advanced graduates and more seasoned professionals, this book covers the main aspects of polarized radiation and polarization effects of material media. It expertly combines physical and mathematical concepts with important approaches for representing media through equivalent systems composed of simple components.

Autowave Plasticity: Localization and Collective Modes discusses the nature of plastic flow in solids associated with the development of a localized plastic flow. Written by an authority in the field, the author demonstrates how patterns of localized plastic flow are associated with autowave modes that are generated in a deformable sample and delivers a complete work on the subject. Key Features An original work on the nature of plastic flows in solids, particularly metals and crystals Focuses on plastic flow as an autowave process Contains elements of theories, experimental considerations, and numerical modeling This reference will help readers with creating experimental methods to observe or localize plastic flow and with the modeling of plastic flows. It is a valuable reference for graduate students and research specialists working in material science.

Foundations of Engineering Acoustics takes the reader on a journey from a qualitative introduction to the physical nature of sound, explained in terms of common experience, to mathematical models and analytical results which underlie the techniques applied by the engineering industry to improve the acoustic performance of their products. The book is distinguished by extensive descriptions and explanations of audio-frequency acoustic phenomena and their relevance to engineering, supported by a wealth of diagrams, and by a guide for teachers of tried and tested class demonstrations and laboratory-based experiments.
Foundations of Engineering Acoustics is a textbook suitable for both senior undergraduate and postgraduate courses in mechanical, aerospace, marine, and possibly electrical and civil engineering schools at universities. It will be a valuable reference for academic teachers and researchers and will also assist Industrial Acoustic Group staff and Consultants.
Comprehensive and up-to-date: broad coverage, many illustrations, questions, elaborated answers, references and a bibliography
Introductory chapter on the importance of sound in technology and the role of the engineering acoustician
Deals with the fundamental concepts, principles, theories and forms of mathematical representation, rather than methodology
Frequent reference to practical applications and contemporary technology
Emphasizes qualitative, physical introductions to each principal as an entree to mathematical analysis for the less theoretically oriented readers and courses
Provides a 'cook book' of demonstrations and laboratory-based experiments for teachers
Useful for discussing acoustical problems with non-expert clients/managers because the descriptive sections are couched in largely non-technical language and any jargon is explained
Draws on the vast pedagogic experience of the writer"

Intended a both a textbook and a reference, Fourier Acoustics develops the theory of sound radiation uniquely from the viewpoint of Fourier Analysis. This powerful perspective of sound radiation provides the reader with a comprehensive and practical understanding which will enable him or her to diagnose and solve sound and vibration problems in the 21st Century. As a result of this perspective, Fourier Acoustics is able to present thoroughly and simply, for the first time in book form, the theory of nearfield acoustical holography, an important technique which has revolutionised the measurement of sound. Relying little on material outside the book, Fourier Acoustics will be invaluable as a graduate level text as well as a reference for researchers in academia and industry.
Key Features
* The physics of wave propogation and sound vibration in homogeneous media
*Acoustics, such as radiation of sound, and radiation from vibrating surfaces
*Inverse problems, such as the theory of nearfield acoustical holography
*Mathematics of specialized functions, such as spherical harmonics

Dynamical systems and Nonlinear Waves in Plasmas is written in a clear and comprehensible style to serve as a compact volume for advanced postgraduate students and researchers working in the areas of Applied Physics, Applied Mathematics, Dynamical Systems, Nonlinear waves in Plasmas or other nonlinear media. It provides an introduction to the background of dynamical systems, waves, oscillations and plasmas. Basic concepts of dynamical systems and phase plane analysis for the study of dynamical properties of nonlinear waves in plasmas are presented. Different kinds of waves in plasmas are introduced. Reductive perturbative technique and its applications to derive different kinds of nonlinear evolution equations in plasmas are discussed. Analytical wave solutions of these nonlinear evolution equations are presented using the concept of bifurcation theory of planar dynamical systems in a very simple way. Bifurcations of both small and arbitrary amplitudes of various nonlinear acoustic waves in plasmas are presented using phase plots and time-series plots. Super nonlinear waves and its bifurcation behaviour are discussed for various plasma systems. Multiperiodic, quasiperiodic and chaotic motions of nonlinear plasma waves are discussed in presence of external periodic force. Multistability of plasma waves is investigated. Stable oscillation of plasma waves is also presented in dissipative plasmas. The book is meant for undergraduate and postgraduate students studying plasma physics. It will also serve a reference to the researchers, scientists and faculties to pursue the dynamics of nonlinear waves and its properties in plasmas. It describes the concept of dynamical systems and is useful in understanding exciting features, such as solitary wave, periodic wave, supernonlinear wave, chaotic, quasiperiodic and coexisting structures of nonlinear waves in plasmas. The concepts and approaches, discussed in the book, will also help the students and professionals to study such features in other nonlinear media.

Time series with mixed spectra are characterized by hidden periodic components buried in random noise. Despite strong interest in the statistical and signal processing communities, no book offers a comprehensive and up-to-date treatment of the subject. Filling this void, Time Series with Mixed Spectra focuses on the methods and theory for the statistical analysis of time series with mixed spectra. It presents detailed theoretical and empirical analyses of important methods and algorithms. Using both simulated and real-world data to illustrate the analyses, the book discusses periodogram analysis, autoregression, maximum likelihood, and covariance analysis. It considers real- and complex-valued time series, with and without the Gaussian assumption. The author also includes the most recent results on the Laplace and quantile periodograms as extensions of the traditional periodogram. Complete in breadth and depth, this book explains how to perform the spectral analysis of time series data to detect and estimate the hidden periodicities represented by the sinusoidal functions. The book not only extends results from the existing literature but also contains original material, including the asymptotic theory for closely spaced frequencies and the proof of asymptotic normality of the nonlinear least-absolute-deviations frequency estimator.

While research on ultrasonics has been covered in earlier volumes of the Physical Acoustics series, Volumes 23 and 24 demonstrate the successful commercialization of devices and instruments arising from research in this area. These volumes will assist in the process of bringing research output into the marketplace to the benefit of customers.
The chapters are liberally illustrated with pictures of actual commercial objects which have been or are in use. Included are Medical Ultrasonic Diagnostics, Nondestructive Testing (NDT), Acoustic Emission, Process Control, Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW) Devices, Frequency Control Devices, Research Instruments, Transducers, and Ultrasonic Microscopes. Also contained in the text are six essays covering technology transfer and commercialization.