Sound and Noise A Listener's Guide to Everyday Life : A Listener's Guide to Everyday Life

An in-depth look at what everyday noise says about our culture and our communities - and how it affects our bodies and minds. A timely evaluation of the noise that surrounds us, how we hear it, and what we can do about it, Marcia Jenneth Epstein gives us the impetus and the tools to understand the sounds and noise that define our daily lives. This is a groundbreaking interdisciplinary study of how auditory stimuli impact both individuals and communities. "This book is about how you listen and what you hear, about how to have a dialogue with the sounds around you. Marcia Jenneth Epstein gives readers the impetus and the tools to understand the sounds and noise that define their daily lives in this groundbreaking interdisciplinary study of how auditory stimuli impact both individuals and communities. Epstein employs scientific and sociological perspectives to examine noise in multiple contexts : as a threat to health and peace of mind, as a motivator for social cohesion, as a potent form of communication and expression of power. She draws on a massive base of specialist literature from fields as diverse as nursing and neuroscience, sociology and sound studies, acoustic ecology and urban planning, engineering, anthropology, and musicology, among others, synthesizing and explaining these findings to evaluate the ubiquitous effects of sound in everyday life. Epstein investigates speech and music as well as noise and explores their physical and cultural dimensions. Ultimately she argues for an engaged public dialogue on sound, built on a shared foundation of critical listening, and provides the understanding for all of us to speak and be heard in such a discussion. Sound and Noise is a timely evaluation of the noise that surrounds us, how we hear it, and what we can do about it."--Page 4 de la couverture "This book is about how you listen and what you hear, about how to have a dialogue with the sounds around you. Marcia Jenneth Epstein gives readers the impetus and the tools to understand the sounds and noise that define their daily lives in this groundbreaking interdisciplinary study of how auditory stimuli impact both individuals and communities. Epstein employs scientific and sociological perspectives to examine noise in multiple contexts: as a threat to health and peace of mind, as a motivator for social cohesion, as a potent form of communication and expression of power. She draws on a massive base of specialist literature from fields as diverse as nursing and neuroscience, sociology and sound studies, acoustic ecology and urban planning, engineering, anthropology, and musicology, among others, synthesizing and explaining these findings to evaluate the ubiquitous effects of sound in everyday life. Epstein investigates speech and music as well as noise and explores their physical and cultural dimensions. Ultimately she argues for an engaged public dialogue on sound, built on a shared foundation of critical listening, and provides the understanding for all of us to speak and be heard in such a discussion. Sound and Noise is a timely evaluation of the noise that surrounds us, how we hear it, and what we can do about it."-- Provided by publisher Cover SOUND AND NOISE Title Copyright Dedication Contents Tables and Figures Foreword Preface in Mid-Pandemic Acknowledgments Abbreviations Introduction 1 Life without Earlids 2 Sound Science 3 Studying Sound 4 Thunder, Rooster, Hammer, Hum 5 Why Noise Annoys 6 The Hearing Body 7 The Mind’s Ear 8 Born Loud 9 Growing Up Loud 10 Working with Noise 11 Quiet, Please: Noise Abatement 12 Power and Danger 13 The Cacophony of the Commons 14 Hear Ye, Hear Ye! Noise and the Law 15 Hearing and Healing: Soundscapes in Health Care 16 Creating a Culture of Listening 17 Tuning a Future Notes References Index