PHYS 109: Sound, Light, and Perception: Books

This book explains the science of musical sound without the encumbrance of detailed mathematics. It will appeal to music lovers as well as students of music and students of physics.

Muddled about what makes music? Stuck on the study of harmonics? Dumbfounded by how sound gets around? Now you no longer have to struggle to teach concepts you really don't grasp yourself. Sound takes an intentionally light touch to help out all those adults-science teachers, parents wanting to help with homework, home-schoolers-seeking necessary scientific background to teach middle school physics with confidence.

The book is devoted to the very basis of acoustics and vibro-acoustics. The physics of the phenomena, the analytical methods and the modern numerical techniques are presented in a concise form. Many examples illustrate the fundamental problems and predictions (analytic or numerical) and are often compared to experiments. Some emphasis is put on the mathematical tools required by rigorous theory and reliable prediction methods.

The major aim of this book is to introduce the ways in which scientists approach and think about a phenomenon -- hearing -- that intersects three quite different disciplines: the physics of sound sources and the propagation of sound through air and other materials, the anatomy and physiology of the transformation of the physical sound into neural activity in the brain, and the psychology of the perception we call hearing. Physics, biology, and psychology each play a role in understanding how and what we hear. The text evolved over the past decade in an attempt to convey something about scientific thinking, as evidenced in the domain of sounds and their perception, to students whose primary focus is not science. It does so using a minimum of mathematics (high school functions such as linear, logarithmic, sine, and power) without compromising scientific integrity.

Researchers and students benefit from the comprehensive contents spanning: animal acoustics including infrasound and ultrasound, environmental noise control, music and human speech and singing, physiological and psychological acoustics, architectural acoustics, physical and engineering acoustics, medical acoustics and ocean acoustics. The Springer Handbook of Acoustics reviews the most important areas of acoustics, with emphasis on current research.

This textbook covers modern acoustics - from the basics of wave propagation in solids and fluids to such applications as noise control and cancellation, underwater acoustics, music and voice synthesis, and medical diagnostics with ultrasound. The book covers various applications, including architectural acoustics; noise measurement and control; underwater acoustics; ultrasonics; music, musical instruments, and reproduction of music; and vibration and control of vibrations. Intended for advanced undergraduates in science or engineering, the treatment assumes a knowledge of mathematics through elementary partial differential equations and a knowledge of physics that includes the basics of wave phenomena, and electrodynamics.

This undergraduate textbook on the physics of wave motion in optics and acoustics avoids presenting the topic abstractly in order to emphasize real-world examples. While providing the needed scientific context, Dr. Espinoza also relies on students' own experience to guide their learning. "Wave Motion" demystifies key component of life around us--in music, in technology, and indeed in everything we perceive--even for those without a strong math background, who might otherwise have trouble approaching the subject matter.