An awe-inspiring exploration of the sounds of the living Earth, and
the joys and threats of human music, language and noise. 'A
symphony, filled with the music of life . . . fascinating,
heartbreaking, and beautifully written.' ELIZABETH KOLBERT, author
of The Sixth Extinction 'Sounds Wild and Broken affirms Haskell as
a laureate for the earth, his finely tuned scientific observations
made more potent by his deep love for the wild he hopes to save.'
NEW YORK TIMES 'Wonderful . . . a reminder that the narrow aural
spectrum on which most of us operate, and the ways in which human
life is led, blocks out the planet's great, orchestral richness.'
GUARDIAN We live on a planet alive with song, music, and speech.
David George Haskell explores how these wonders came to be. In
rainforests shimmering with insect sounds and swamps pulsing with
frog calls we learn about evolution's creative powers. From birds
in the Rocky Mountains and on the streets of Paris, we discover how
animals learn their songs and adapt to new environments. Below the
waves, we hear our kinship to beings as different as snapping
shrimp, toadfish, and whales. In the startlingly divergent sonic
vibes of the animals of different continents, we experience the
legacies of plate tectonics, the deep history of animals and their
movements around the world, and the quirks of aesthetic evolution.
Starting with the origins of animal song and traversing the whole
arc of Earth's history, Haskell illuminates and celebrates the
emergence of the varied sounds of our world. In mammoth ivory
flutes from Paleolithic caves, violins in modern concert halls, and
electronic music in earbuds, we learn that human music and language
belong within this story of ecology and evolution. Yet we are also
destroyers, now silencing or smothering many of the sounds of the
living Earth. Haskell takes us to threatened forests, noise-filled
oceans, and loud city streets to show that sonic crises are not
mere losses of sensory ornament. Sound is a generative force, and
so the erasure of sonic diversity makes the world less creative,
less beautiful. Sounds Wild and Broken is an invitation to listen,
wonder, act. 'Absolutely fascinating.' MARIELLA FROSTRUP, TIMES
RADIO 'Enlightening and sobering.' JINI REDDY, METRO
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