Clamor : how noise took over the world - and how we can take it back / Chris Berdik.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Berdik, Chris, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sounds--Popular works.

Sounds.

Noise--Popular works.

Noise.

Noise pollution--Popular works.

Noise pollution.

Genre:

Popular works.

Physical Description:

253 pages ; 22 cm

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : W.W. Norton and Company, [2025]

Summary:

"Drawing on extensive research and original reporting, Berdik shows how a too-limited understanding of noise, focused on loud sounds and decibel counts, has undermined a century of noise-control efforts and obscured the full toll noise exacts on us and the environment. Chronic exposure to noise that falls below decibel-based thresholds--sometimes even below our conscious awareness--is linked to spikes in the risk of heart disease and other serious health ailments that contribute to premature death. Noisy classrooms hinder developing minds and delay cognitive milestones. In forests and in the depths of the ocean, a cacophony of manmade sound disrupts the natural soundscape, threatening animals' capacity to communicate, hunt, and flee predators. Yet in the battle against noise, sound doesn't have to be our enemy: Berdik introduces us to the researchers, rock stars, architects, and many others who are finding surprising ways to make our world sound not only less bad, but better. Rising above the ever-increasing racket, Clamor is an urgent--and ultimately inspiring--call to finally take noise seriously and harness sound's great potential."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

Prologue

Part 1: Noise from the inside out. Huh?!: Hearing connections

Hearing ourselves think: Noise distraction

Feel the noise: How sound gets under your skin

The noise gap: Sound pollution and environmental justice

Sensory smog: Nature is listening

Part 2: A better-sounding world. Beyond noise: A world of unbounded sound

All the machines that all go beep: Solving signal overload

Sound castles: Better living through listening

Beyond quiet: Hearing the future city

Coda

Acknowledgments

Notes

Index.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 217-242) and index.

ISBN:

9781324006992

1324006994

OCLC:

1517842959