5 comments about When a Butterfly Sneezes: A Guide for Helping Kids Explore Interconnections in Our World Through Favorite Stories (Systems Thinking for Kids, Big and Small, Vol 1).

1. "When a Butterfly Sneezes" uses stories to help introduce the basics of systems thinking. This book was written for parents and educators as a guide for helping children gain a richer and deeper understanding of the world around them through their favorite stories. This is a much needed book for parents who enjoy reading to their children and for educators, particularly those who work with students in the K-4 classroom where there is a focus on literacy. "When a Butterfly Sneezes" is a first of a kind book on this subject and at this level. It offers parents, teachers and teacher educator's a practical means for introducing systems to young minds. I will use this book in teacher education courses and recommend it highly to others.



2. The mark of a great story is that it plants a deep seed in ones psyche that penetrates and grows slowly but oh so steadily. Like a koan, it imbeds itself and connects the limbic system with the neo-cortex, the emotions with the intellect. As one encounters the world, the story keeps resurfacing just when appropriate, deepening ones learning. Linda Booth Sweeney has found magical ways to plant seeds in kids (young and old), about critical messages of connectedness and life, and elegantly woven ways of learning that are ancient and current. Readers are in some ways left with a living question in their hearts and minds: What is life asking of me now?



3. I have used some of the same stories described in Linda's book in training courses with environmental professionals from many countries as well as in introducing systems thinking into my own organization. There is a universal appeal to stories by Dr. Seuss, for example, and much wisdom hidden just behind the wild drawings and imaginative language. Linda's unique contribution lies in showing teachers and parents how they can use a wide range of enchanting stories to tap into this deeper meaning in order to improve problem solving abilities in everyday life. The book's recommendations on using stories can easily be applied to improving our parenting and teaching skills by listening more carefully to the stories children tell, asking better questions, and sharing responsibility with our children for interpreting the answers.



4. I have used some of the same stories described in Linda's book in training courses with environmental professionals from many countries as well as in introducing systems thinking into my own organization. There is a universal appeal to stories by Dr. Seuss, for example, and much wisdom hidden just behind the wild drawings and imaginative language. Linda's unique contribution lies in showing teachers and parents how they can use a wide range of enchanting stories to tap into this deeper meaning in order to improve problem solving abilities in everyday life. The book's recommendations on using stories can easily be applied to improving our parenting and teaching skills by listening more carefully to the stories children tell, asking better questions, and sharing responsibility with our children for interpreting the answers.



5. Systems thinking provides structure to understanding our complex world. Stories, whether our own or selections from literature, offer a powerful hook to recognition of the interconnectedness within a system.

   As an educator, I've been intrigued with the idea of systems thinking, but somewhat intimidated by its complexity. After reading and rereading WHEN A BUTTERFLY SNEEZES, I have a far deeper understanding of its power.

   I''ve long believed in the power of story to enhance understanding. This little book affirms that belief.

   Thank you, Linda Booth Sweeney, for this fine work.

5 comments about Absorption and Scattering of Light by Small Particles (Wiley Science Paperback Series).

1. This book must be on the table of every researcher in light scattering field.



2. I have found this to be a very useful reference for calculations of light-scattering properties of particles of various sizes and shapes. Discussions of subjects ranging from geometrical optics to Mie theory appear clear and complete. The book also includes computer algorithms for computing scattering properties of homogeneous spheres, coated spheres and cylinders.



3. The authors' lively and `user-friendly' style of presentation help bring material of an advanced nature within the reach of a larger number of readers than most books that deal with the subject at this level. I highly recommend this classic reference.



4. Very good choice of topics. Clear presentation. Caters to a wide variety of audiences.

   I'd give it a 5 if it included a chapter devoted practical aspects of experimental light scattering measurements, techniques, and instrumentation.




5. Bohren and Huffman present a coherent and comprehensive description of absorption and scattering by small particles. The text is written in a very amusing style, where ideas are presented in a conversation like manner, as if the authors are directly addressing the reader, providing jokes and examples to illustrate their point. This text builds upon the description provided by Hulst in classic text, and provides a deal of useful information particularly related to absorption (not covered by the text of Hulst)!
   
   The first eight chapters illustrate the basic theory of scattering and absorption, introducing expression and physics relevant to spheres, spheroids and a whole array of particles. This section is quite similar in spirit to the text by Hulst, requires a background in electrodynamics (to make it most useful) . In part II and part III, the authors discuss the optical constants of bulk matter and small particles respectively, citing examples of metallic as well as semiconducting particles. This book fills the need for a textbook for studying extinction coefficients of all kinds of particles, and is useful for physicists, chemists, meteorologists, material scientists, etc. Nonlinear optics is not covered, as also the effect of multi-particle scattering (and thankfully so)!
   
   The book is very useful for people studying absorption (and scattering) of nanoparticles. It contains a good description of basic physics of plasmon resonance, extremely relevant to the research of people studying metallic particles. Bohren has written some really amusing as well as insightful "science" books on experiments and observations of physical phenomenon in daily life (and atmospheric sciences). This book is similar, with additional detail in terms of mathematical equations:)! Extremely useful for researchers and scientists even remotely associated with studies of absorption and scattering by particles! In terms of usefulness, this book is much better than the text by Kerker on similar topic!

1 comments about Systems Theory and Family Therapy: A Primer.

1. The Becvar's once again offer top-notch explanations of a sometimes difficult subject. This book is a must read for all individuals interested in integrating strong systems thinking and intervention into practice.

5 comments about Cymatics: A Study of Wave Phenomena & Vibration.

1. Dr. Jenny was a thorough and detailed researcher and it shows in this book. Not meant to be a study in fluid dynamic or wave propagation physics though, if you're looking for that, try the "Album of Fluid Motion" by Milton Van Dyke. This book's beautifully photographed matter trasformations through sound and Van Dykes explainations would be a wonderful pairing.



2. Hans Jenny provides excellent experimental notes in this book. The conditions are easy to duplicate and I find the experimentation to be very rewarding. This book is a 'must-have' for anyone who wishes to learn more about the bare bones building blocks of our cosmos...



3. For anyone that has ever incorporated the use of sound into their practice of healing modalities this book will provide you with a deeper connection between the physical and the metaphysical. The book is written from a rather scientific standpoint so don't expect a discussion on higher consciousness. However if you've ever considered the importance of a visualization in the use of sacred geometry such as ancient mandalas for meditation or energy projection you will find that nature manfiests through these scientic explorations and to some extent may validate some people's belief that simply because we cannot see things doesn't mean they are not there.



4. Absolutely fascinating reading and high quality photography. Though my scientific vocabulary is limited, I found the writing to be clear and understandable. The information was very helpful in my search for clues to how music impacts the body on a cellular level.



5. This is a really great book for all people interested in expanding their knowledge and perception of the world. Wonderful pictures, very professional explanations. Great, beautiful book.

5 comments about The Live Sound Manual: Getting Great Sound at Every Gig.

1. 250 8x11 pages without a single picture, drawing, image, graphic, table, graph or equation. Zero. Not one.

   The section on calculating the net impedance of speakers without an equation is hilarious: "This means turning each number on its head, then adding the numbers in this form, then changing the resulting number back to ordinary form."

   I bet you have never thought of an XLR connector as "three small round pins/holes forming a triangular pattern inside an 18mm diameter circle."

   There is also some questionable information, such as "the gain setting knobs [on an amplifier] should generally be set at maximum..." Never seen that one in print.

   Much better choices for an actual book are Davis: "Sound Reinforcement Handbook" and Stark: "Live Sound Reinforcement".




2. This book is the end all/be all of live sound. It covers everything you need to know...from what the knobs do, to what rooms have different sound qualities and how to adjust. It's perfect. As a professional touring musician, this is one of the most detailed books I've read on the issue. I highly recommend it.



3. Great Book with Great Information. I always say if I get 1 useful bit of info. then the purchase was worth it. This book gave more than just 1 bit of useful info!



4. A very informative read. I have been involved in bands for 30 years and it shows you can always learn something new..



5. This sound manual is the best reading for anyone who is just starting into the pro-sound business or has been doing it for years. The writer provide unlimited information on doing an excellent sound. His advice is indepth and consice. This is not a simple reading, the writer dives right into every technical aspect of doing a great sound live, and more. I would recommend this book to anyone who needs to know more on doing a professional sound. I bought 4 copies to give to my sound crew.

5 comments about Linked: The New Science of Networks.

1. This is the first book I've ever read tackling this subject. I've had some science, but physics wasn't my strong suit. This was a great intro, and it made me want to dig deeper.



2. Reminds of "The World is Flat". It covers lots of ground really quickly. It was an interesting subject, something I've speculated a lot on my own and it was reinforcing to have a professional discuss lots of patterns (biology, physics, society, information networks) in a short-form context. It inspired me to write some graphics code based on the diagrams in the book and for that it was worth reading.



3. This well-written, easy book is a good way to start learning about network theory. It discusses the history, some basics, and the broad application (or presence?) of networks in the world around us.
   However, it skims only the surface of what the research is all about, and leaves one thirsty for more, making it a good introduction to further studying (in my case, neural networks).
   
   The writing style is close to story-telling at times, and this got a bit on my nerves. Apart from that I really cannot say anything bad about this book, I am glad I purchased it.



4. This is an excellent introduction to the science of networks. The layman, the engineer and the beginnig researcher should all enjoy & benefit from reading it.



5. Nutshell review - This is such a fascinating topic and this is a great book covering it. Well written, lucid and worth reading about this interesting "new" field of networks and small worlds.
   
   Another book on the same topic, Nexus: Small Worlds and the Groundbreaking Theory of Networks by Mark Buchanan, covers the same topic. No need to buy both.

2 comments about Automating with STEP 7 in STL and SCL: Programmable Controllers SIMATIC S7-300/400.

1. A must for the person using Siemens PLC's. This is the book for the beginner or for the experienced Siemens S7 Programmer. Book cover the things you need to know or reference when programming.



2. "Automating with S7...STL/SCL" is a reference book for any EXPERT programmer using Siemens S7 PLCs. Hans Berger, the author, is the "father" of S7 PLC family (in a technical way). If you want to reach the EXPERT level, YOU MUST HAVE THIS BOOK!!! On the other side, if you know you will stay to ladder logic level at least 95% of the time (or, you "know and use / program" ten types of PLCs, ten types of drives, etc) then, YOU DON'T NEED THIS BOOK!

2 comments about How Radio Signals Work.

1. This book was definitely written for non-technical people. In order to enjoy this book, one does not have to have great knowledge in electronics and mathematics. As matter of fact, the author completely avoids using mathematical equations and replace it with very easy-to-follow graphs to explain the complex "Radiophysics". The author did a very good job of explaining difficult topics of "Radiophysics" using normal everyday language. An excellent starter book for anyone who is interested in learning how our modern communication works. I wish I had read this book before I started my college engineering courses. Concepts mentioned in this book can be a stepping stone for anyone(high school students, people in technical sales, non-technical managers, and even tax agents) who is considering a career in RF/wireless communication field. This book will definitely set you in the right path for an introductory communication class.



2. I'm just beginning to get into Amateur Radio (ie: Ham radio) to move my career more toward RF technology. This book really lays out the info very gently, doesn't try to impress you with huge words or complex theorems. For anyone trying to gain insight into RF, this is a GREAT starting point. But, if you're trying to get into Ham radio, get the test book first from the ARRL and pass the Technician's exam. After that, you can apply practically all the theory found in this book and expand your knowledge further through experience.

5 comments about Fundamentals of Acoustics.

1. Personally, I was disappointed by the fourth edition of this venerable text, for it has become increasingly mathematical and problem oriented. If you like sitting down and whiling away your afternoon with a problem set -- this is the text for you. But if instead you wish to study acoustics through a pedagogical method that is more verbal and graphical in nature -- better texts are available.

   Indeed, in my opinion, prior editions (1950, 1962, 1981) of this same text are superior, particularly the second edition. Although these too have their share of integral calculus and complex algebra, the quantity is more appropriate for a discipline that is mostly science and engineering but with aspects of art to it as well.

   Bear in mind that aside from a few specialized areas -- like ultrasonics and its use in non-destructive testing, or the use of digital processing in sound generation and analysis -- little new has come about in the field of acoustics since World War II. Thus unlike with most fields of science, there is no necessity to have the most modern texts to gather a wholly modern understanding of the field.

   Indeed, I recently examined almost every text relating to acoustics contained in the circumferential stacks of the Barker Engineering Library under the Great Dome of M.I.T. (and sadly, there aren't as many texts as one might hope). I was surprised both at the age of most volumes in the collection -- and the fact that most had not been checked out of the library in years.

   Indeed, from the "Date Due" slips in the back, you could see the field was very popular in the 1960's and 1970's, but popularity seemed to wain in the early 1980's -- approximately contemporaneously, curiously, with the introduction of the digital CD format of audio recording.

   By the mid-1990's, at M.I.T., at least, interest in acoustics among faculty and students seem to have declined precipitiously, if the popularity of library texts and the quantity of student theses published in the field is any indication.

   Of all the general texts on acoustics that I examined -- to me, one clearly stood out above the others. It was published in 1957 by the lead acoustical scientist at the RCA Research Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey, Harry F. Olsen, Ph.D. It is entitled, "Acoustical Engineering", although it contains all the fundamental science as well. This text was reprinted in 1991 and is currently available.

   Olsen's work is surely a magnum opus, comprising 736 pages and 567 illustrations. It has its fair share of math, but the concepts are often additionally explained through well-crafted line drawings, showing, for example, wave forms drawn in progressive fashion in serial graphs, some of which are designed so that one can even mentally rotate the graphics to gather a three-dimensional perspective. Furthermore, the graphs are often supplemented by equivalent mechanical and electrical analogs, to further assist in understanding.

   Best of all, Olsen explains virtually everything acoustical you would ever want to know, from theories of acoustical wave propagation, to an enormous variety of loudspeaker designs, to the mathematical reasoning behind Johann Sebastian Bach's tempered tuning of musical instruments, an artistic practice that is almost universal today.

   Thus if it is a text for a problem-oriented course in acoustics that one seeks -- the fourth edition of the "Fundamentals of Acoustics" is a fine text. However, if one wishes to have a ready reference that is extraordinarily comprehensive, or a pedagogical work that doesn't focus on mathematical derivations, better choices can surely be made.




2. Personally, I was disappointed by the fourth edition of this venerable text, for it has become increasingly mathematical and problem oriented. If you like sitting down and whiling away your afternoon with a problem set -- this is the text for you. But if instead you wish to study acoustics through a pedagogical method that is more verbal and graphical in nature -- better texts are available.

   Indeed, in my opinion, prior editions (1950, 1962, 1981) of this same text are superior, particularly the second edition. Although these too have their share of integral calculus and complex algebra, the quantity is more appropriate for a discipline that is mostly science and engineering but with aspects of art to it as well.

   Bear in mind that aside from a few specialized areas -- like ultrasonics and its use in medical imaging and non-destructive testing, or the use of digital processing in sound generation and vibration analysis -- little new has come about in the field of acoustics since World War II. Thus unlike with most fields of science, there is no necessity to have the most modern texts to gather a wholly modern understanding of the field (with a few minor exceptions).

   Indeed, I recently examined almost every text relating to acoustics contained in the circumferential stacks of the Barker Engineering Library under the Great Dome of M.I.T. (and sadly, there aren't as many texts as one might hope). I was surprised both at the age of most volumes in the collection -- and the fact that most had not been checked out of the library in years.

   Indeed, from the "Date Due" slips in the back, you could see the field was very popular in the 1960's and 1970's, but popularity seemed to wane in the early 1980's -- approximately contemporaneously, curiously, with the introduction of the digital CD format of audio recording.

   By the mid-1990's, at M.I.T., at least, interest in acoustics among faculty and students seem to have declined precipitiously, if the popularity of library texts and the quantity of student theses published in the field is any indication.

   Of all the general texts on acoustics that I examined -- to me, one clearly stood out above the others. It was published in 1957 by Harry F. Olsen, Ph.D., the lead acoustical scientist at the RCA Research Laboratories in Princeton, New Jersey. It is entitled, "Acoustical Engineering", although the text contains all the fundamental science as well. This volume was reprinted in 1991 and is currently available.

   Olsen's work is surely a magnum opus, comprising 736 pages and 567 illustrations. It has its fair share of math, but the concepts are often additionally explained through well-crafted line drawings, showing, for example, wave forms drawn in progressive fashion in serial graphs, some of which are designed so that one can even mentally rotate the graphics to gather a three-dimensional perspective. Furthermore, the graphs are often supplemented by art showing equivalent mechanical and electrical analogs, to further assist in understanding.

   Best of all, Olsen explains virtually everything acoustical you would ever want to know, from theories of acoustical wave propagation, to an enormous variety of loudspeaker designs, to the mathematical reasoning behind Johann Sebastian Bach's tempered tuning of musical instruments, an artistic practice that is almost universal today.

   Thus if it is a text for a problem-oriented course in acoustics that one seeks -- the fourth edition of the "Fundamentals of Acoustics" is a fine text. However, if one wishes to have a ready reference that is extraordinarily comprehensive, or a pedagogical work that doesn't focus on mathematical derivations, better choices can surely be made.




3. This text in not an introductory work, it is geared toward upper division college or graduate level engineering work. By this I am referring to the math level in the book. If you are not willing to work with partial differential equations, integrals, dot products, cross products and dell operators stay away from this book, it is intended for engineering students and not for audio, broadcast, or film students looking for a greater understanding of sound/acoustics.

   Here is a list of the chapters:
   Fundamentals of vibration; Transverse motion - the vibrating string; Vibrations of bars; The two-dimensional wave equation: vibrations of memberanes and plates; The acoustic wave equation and simple solutions; Transmission phenomena; Absorption and attenuation of sound waves in fluids; Radiation and reception of acoustic waves; Pipes, cavities, and waveguides; resonators, ducts, and filters; Noise, signal, detection, hearing, and speech; Environmental acoustics; Architectural acoustics; Transduction; Underwater acoustics.




4. This is a classic engineering text on acoustics for upper division college students. It first appeared in 1950. And now it is back fifty years later in a fourth edition. In the meantime, the original two authors have passed away. However, Coppens and Sanders have done a fine job in keeping the book up-to-date.
   
   Plenty of exercises have been added, and answers to many odd-numbered problems are in the back of the book. I think it is an excellent introduction to the field (yes, I expect you to have studied calculus and differential equations as an underclassman). It's my favorite of the classic engineering acoustics textbooks.
   
   Two new chapters have been added in this edition, one on nonlinear acoustics and the other on shock waves. That's a very good idea. If I were teaching an acoustics class with an earlier edition of the book, I'd refer students to Landau Volume 6 (Fluid Mechanics) to get some of this missing information.
   
   Actually, I wish the authors had added a couple more chapters, one on ultrasonics and another on instruments of music. That still would not cover all of acoustics, but I feel these topics are fairly important.
   
   Anyway, I really like the book, and I'd be happy to teach a class using it.



5. This book is aimed squarely at engineering students who want to learn the mathematics of acoustics. There is very little in the realm of standing back and asking "So what does this all mean?". From the very first chapter the author dives into deriving equations that use calculus, Laplace transforms, the Fourier series and transform, circuit analysis, digital filters, and the Z- transform as well as some differential equations. There are few examples in the book, but there are problem sets that expect you to understand the theory and math well enough to apply it numerically with more intuitive knowledge than is presented. It can be done, but you'll have to read carefully when doing the exercises to figure out how to get from A to B. If you are interested in acoustics this is probably an essential reference pertaining to the mathematical aspects of the science, but you'll need other books to get the big picture. I'd recommend the old Schaum's Outline of Acoustics by Seto as a companion to this book since it has lots of examples. Unfortunately, it is out of print and you'll probably have to hunt for it.

5 comments about The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900-1933.

1. Those invited to read an academic book on acoustics might well decline because of a headache, or an urgent need to wash the cat, or the constant press of quality daytime television. It would be hard to convince them that such a book could be exciting, or even interesting, especially if it weighs in with the heft of a textbook. But a remarkable work by historian Emily Thompson, _The Soundscape of Modernity: Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900 - 1933_, ought to be enjoyed by non-specialists and those who know nothing about the science of acoustics. Thompson has written a comprehensive, well-referenced, but witty and entertaining book about an important subject whose influence is surprisingly pervasive.

   Thompson briskly reviews acoustic history; before this century, listeners knew there were better auditoriums and worse, but no one really knew why. To create a new venue for the important Boston Symphony Orchestra, the architect consulted a young Harvard assistant professor of physics, Wallace Sabine, who may be dubbed the Father of American Acoustics. In 1895, Sabine had been asked by the president of Harvard to improve the terrible acoustics of the lecture hall in the new Fogg Art Museum. In studying the problem, Sabine learned that the important thing to measure within a hall was the time of reverberation, the dying out of sound echoing through the room. This seems obvious now, but was the founding insight for all subsequent acoustical thought. He developed an equation relating the absorbing power of the room and its furnishings to the reverberation time. When Boston's Symphony Hall opened in 1900, the acoustics were an overwhelming success with critics. There were carpers who gradually dissented from the praise, but the musicians and the audiences became familiar with the sound, and its reputation remains high. Making beautiful sounds is but one aspect of acoustics treated in Thompson's book. Chapters are also devoted to the shielding from ugly sounds which the machine age was producing. Legal remedies for noise were largely unsuccessful, but there were brilliant successes in architectural use of sound-absorbing material to keep out the din. Movies changed the way auditoriums sounded, and making them presented its own peculiar problems. They had to have their camera sounds deadened and their studio lots coated to damp echoes, and the air conditioning (necessitated because the noisy carbon arc lighting had been replaced by quieter but hotter incandescent) had to be acoustically insulated from the production.

   Thompson ends her fascinating study with the Radio City Music Hall, a progeny of the new electroacoustic science. The hall was designed for the capture of sound by stage microphones and the projection of amplified sound into the highly absorbent and cavernous hall. The system worked very well, but ironically, although the audience could hear every speaker as if they were close to the stage, only those physically close could see with equal clarity. Live spectaculars failed, and the hall became a white elephant, playing mostly movies that people could see cheaper elsewhere. But the theatrical amplification of sound became a standard; as the century wore on, theaters were designed to be "tunable" to sound gothic, baroque, or modern, without one "best" setting. The soundscape we have become used to will continue to change, but Thompson's volume, full of clear, small essays and biographies, and cheerfully laced with humor and unobtrusive puns, is an insightful description of the origins of the sounds of the future.




2. "The Soundscape of Modernity," is the title of Emily Thompson's book. However, it has little to do with soundscapes or modernity and everything to do with the less-sexy sub-title (in very small print), "Architectural Acoustics and the Culture of Listening in America, 1900-1033."

   Despite the author's attempts to re-define R. M. Schafer's meaning of "soundscapes," she fails to connect the thrust of her exposition to the more resonant and common significance of the term and thus obscures and distorts the meaning of both the term and concept. The author confines her discussion to changes of the performance, creation, and perception of sound in our culture during the first third of the last century due largely to the engineering and construction of interior architectural spaces and related supporting technologies. Unless one can successfully bestow on the interior of Boston's Symphony Hall or the Radio City Music Hall the rational equivalent of soundscape (aural) as landscape (visual), one cannot expect to make the transition and apply the term "soundscape" to the acoustic result of those designs with any authority. It simply doesn't fit. The book, in the end, speaks nothing of soundscapes as they have come to be understood in the arts and sciences, but addresses, instead, architectural acoustics and the technologies that drive and/or enhance them. While the text is readable and historically loaded with informative discussion on the transformation of architectural acoustics, it is not consistent with the expectations contained in the title of this book.

   I bought the book because the title suggested an illumination on the manner in which soundscapes - human and natural - changed during the first three decades of the 20th century. It delivered, instead, a very different, misleading, but nonetheless instructive narrative. As my interest in the work was more along the lines of that anticipation, I was somewhat disappointed especially because the book is so expensive.




3. Thompson focuses on the role of modernist tendencies in the construction and commodification of the auditory culture of America in the early twentieth century. She looks not only at the science of architectural acoustics but their linkage to the new recording technologies and general changes in the aural landscape of New York and elsewhere. We discover the completeness of the modernist retreat from the world into skyscrapers which had among their attributes the ability to silence all the outside noise of life. Thompson displays how the perception and creation of sound is absolutely coupled to a culture and its historicity. By doing so she links herself to the great French historian of the senses, Alain Corbin, who wrote Village Bells and allowed us to rediscover the sounds of the eighteenth French countryside and the culture that created it. To read a work written in such a provocative and entertaining way is a wonderful experience and to have such an experience with a book that centers around a topic as possibly dull as architectural acoustics is doubly impressive. As more talented historians are "coming out of the woodwork" and lending their abilities to the study of aurality our picture of the world past is quickly becoming a more vivid and less silent one.
   Secondly, I fell the need to criticize one reviewer's critique. One, though F Murray Schafer may have helped create a new field of study and generated concern for a the loss of a particular kind of soundscape I think criticizing an entire book because you have a semantic disagreement about the title with the author is slightly ridiculous. Thompson states her differences with Schafer in the first couple hundred words. If it was that upsetting, just take the book back. I personally find Schafer's writing quite lacking in theoretical vigor and drawing on questionable statistical evidence. Secondly, Thompson does in fact go well beyond just discussing the technical "progress" made in the field of acoustics by looking at the reasons that a culture would look to alter its sound in the first place.
   A fantastic book. I hope she writes more.



4. The way that this book approaches the history of sound in the early twentieth-century is truly unique. Thompson catalogs the events from 1900-1933 from four different perspectives, each perspective in its own chapter. The explanation of the science involved in the evolution in sound is done extremely well; easily understandable to the non-technical person, and yet with enough detail to satisfy the technically minded. I am an engineering student and bought this book for a project for my noise control engineering class-a graduate level class-and it provided extremely useful to me in describing how the scientific community changed and evolved in the area of acoustics.
   
   So many differently things were happening all at once during this time period. Books that focus solely on science and the scientific community totally disregard the social atmosphere that drove the scientific community to achieve as they did. Also, any social history would be remiss in omitting the contributions of the scientific community in a time period where science was celebrated and embraced by society. Thompson does a wonderful job of showing the history of both areas and how they interrelate to one another.
   
   What follows is a brief outline of what the book includes and how it is presented:
   Thomspon uses architecture, and the science of acoustics used to aid in design, as milestones in the development of what she refers to as the 'soundscape'. She begins with opening night at Symphony Hall in Boston on October 15, 1900, and ends with Radio City Music Hall, which opened December 27, 1932.
   
   The introduction and brief overview is given in Chapter 1. Chapter 2 begins with opening night of Symphony Hall and how the work of Wallace Sabine impacted the design of music hall. It also gives a brief history of earlier attempts at sound control, which illustrates just how significant Sabine's work was for both the scientific and architectural community. Chapters 3 through 6 each cover the time period 1900 to 1933 from four different perspectives.
   
   Chapter 3 follows the work of the scientists throughout this period who, by building on the work of Sabine, focused their careers in the study of sound and developing the science of "New Acoustics". The chapter catalogs the development of the new tools available to accurately measure sound, new techniques to measure sound and the new language used to define sound.
   
   During this time period, the sounds of a city dramatically changed from human sources to mechanical sources. This created new challenges in noise control, which had previously been addressed by controlling the behavior of the people causing the noise. This type of noise control became obsolete once mechanical noise became prevalent. Chapter 4 addresses these changes and how the public dealt with the changes in the problem and meaning of noise.
   
   Chapter 5 restarts the period again, this time focusing on how the technology of architectural acoustics, the science that Sabine basically invented with his groundbreaking work outlined in Chapter 1 & 2, was used indoors to alleviate the problem of noise. This chapter follows the new acoustical material industry which was focused on new building technologies dedicated to isolating and absorbing sound. It tracks scientific knowledge being applied to create sound-engineered buildings, which were designed to keep noise out of a building, and how this eventually became known as 'modern noise control'.
   
   Chapter 6 shows how the electro acoustical technology moved out of the lab, where it was developed to measure sound, into the world. Microphones, loudspeakers, radios, public address systems and sound motion pictures were all world applications of the lab technology which filled the soundscape with electro acoustical signals. It also shows the rapid change in the soundscape that this new electric acoustic sound bears little resemblance to the sound of 1900. So little resemblance that Sabine's reverberation formula failed to describe it, forcing the equation to be revised, signaling the final transformation of the soundscape.
   
   Chapter 7 finishes off the time period with the opening of Radio City Music Hall.



5. My review will be brief. I basically agree with several other reviewers. This book is well written. Given that it is an MIT Press publication it is academic in approach. So it can be wordy and a little dry, but is well researched and documented. I appreciate the thorough references & illustrations.
   
   Basically this book reinforces that many of the major concepts that are fundamental to audio systems and acoustics were developed by the 1930s. It clearly reinforces that we stand on the shoulders of those that came before us.
   
   As a side note I think the basis of analog color television was worked out in the '20s. It's amazing the power of concentration and insight early designers had, and they lacked the modern tools we have today.
   
   This is a must read for a history of acoustics & sound system development in the previous century and it's impact on out modern world. However, it is not a light, topical title.