The Sound Book: The Science of the Sonic Wonders of the World (45 page)

xylophone:

ice

rosewood

 

Yorkshire Sculpture Park

Yosemite Falls

Young, Thomas

Yuan

 

Zadar

Zempoala

zone plates

More Praise for

The Sound Book

“[Cox] lets his ears guide him on an adventure to track down quirky, extreme and historically venerated phenomena of our sonic universe. . . . [Y]ou do not need to be an acoustic engineer . . . to be awed. . . . The most lasting impact of Mr. Cox's book is a gentle reminder to pay attention to—and value—everyday sounds.”

—Corinna da Fonseca-Wollheim,
New York Times

“This small encyclopedia of strange sounds reveals how much art there is in the act of listening. Reading it made my ears more mindful.”

—Adam Gopnik

“[A] fun but thoroughly detailed scientific tour through some of the world's aural gems. Sounds like music to our ears.”

—
New Scientist

“Captivating. . . . This book does not call for quiet, but for good sound over bad. . . . Reading this revelatory book, it is impossible not to be converted to his cause.”

—
Sunday Times

“[Cox's] knowledge is unimpeachable yet worn lightly, [his] language is vivid yet without indulgence.”

—
Observer

“A must-read for musicians, producers, sound engineers and nerds of all kinds.”

—Lauren Laverne, DJ at BBC6 Music

“In this riveting ear-opener, Trevor Cox describes in lyrical detail a range of sonic events and new ways of listening that can only brighten our experience of the acoustic world around us. A must-read for sound-lovers of all stripes.”

—Bernie Krause, author of
The Great Animal Orchestra

“A technological travelogue conducted by an expert tour guide, bursting with aural arcana that adds just the right amount of tech-savvy detail,
The Sound Book
brings into relief a world often obscured in our image-heavy existence. . . . [A] real rush.”

—Greg Milner, author of
Perfecting Sound Forever

“In a world dominated by the visual, the book inspires readers to attune their ears with the diverse sounds of everyday life.”

—Marian Sandberg,
Studio Live Design

“From its first page to its last,
The Sound Book
invites readers to close their eyes and open their ears to the sounds, both normal and peculiar, that surround us all.”

—Sid Perkins,
Science News Magazine

Copyright © 2014 by Trevor Cox

First American Edition 2014
First published as a Norton paperback 2015

Published in Great Britain by The Bodley Head under the title
Sonic Wonderland: A Scientific Odyssey of Sound

Illustration credits: Unless otherwise stated, images are drawn by Trevor and Nathan Cox. Richard Deane took the
Aeolus
photograph (Figure 4.1). The cat piano image (Figure 5.1) is courtesy of CNUM, Conservatoire Numérique des Arts et Métiers, http://cnum.cnam.fr,
La Nature
, 1883, p. 320. The satellite image of clouds showing airflow around Alejandro Selkirk Island (Figure 8.7) is © NASA ­Goddard Photo and Video's photo stream, http://www.flickr.com/photos/gsfc/5638320696/in/photostream, accessed January 9, 2013.

All rights reserved

For information about permission to reproduce selections from this book, write to Permissions, W. W. Norton & Company, Inc., 500 Fifth Avenue, New York, NY 10110

For information about special discounts for bulk purchases, please contact W. W. Norton Special Sales at [email protected] or 800-233-4830

Book design by Chris Welch

Production manager: Devon Zahn

The Library of Congress has cataloged the printed edition as follows:

Cox, Trevor J.

The sound book : the science of the sonic wonders of the world /

Trevor Cox. — First American edition.

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-393-23979-9 (hardcover)

1. Sounds—Popular works. 2. Noise—Popular works. I. Title.

QC225.3.C69 2014

550.1′534—dc23

                                                   2013034491

ISBN 978-0-393-24282-9 (e-book)
ISBN 978-0-393-35058-6 pbk.

W. W. Norton & Company, Inc.

500 Fifth Avenue, New York, N.Y. 10110

www.wwnorton.com

W. W. Norton & Company Ltd.

Castle House, 75/76 Wells Street, London W1T 3QT