Clamor

[A] fascinating exploration of how noise shapes our lives in ways we rarely consider . . . this book invites readers to embrace new ways of listening and imagine a world where sound enhances rather than detracts from well-being.--Nancy Nadler, deputy executive director for the Center for Hearing and Communication Chris Berdik has expanded our thinking on the paradox of living with a bad thing--noise--and its twin, the loveliness of sound. . . . By recognizing and shaping it, we can turn up the harmony and turn down both the acoustic and psychological vexation.--Susan Rogers, author of This Is What It Sounds Like Finally, a book that raises a necessary clamor about the perils of a noisy world! Chris Berdik shows us just how much is at stake when we can't hear ourselves think and animals can't find their way home. It's time to listen and bring back the soundscapes we actually want.--Florence Williams, author of The Nature Fix Clamor?is a wide-ranging survey of the diverse ways sound affects us, both bad and good. Our eyes may give us more detailed information about our surroundings, but what we hear affects us more quickly and--emotionally--more deeply than what we see, subliminally shaping our experience of the world. Chris Berdik's book will introduce you to the power of sound and the experts in many fields grappling with questions like what noise is, how much is too much, how sonic trash frays our attention, and how to design better alerts and even whole soundscapes to improve the quality of life. It will open your ears--and your mind.--Dan Gauger, Distinguished Engineer at Bose Corp. (retired) Clamor?is not only a book about noise and how society reacts to it. Although it covers that ground, the most vital aspect of this book is where it leads: to a future where sound is imagined with intention and purpose, not just to a 'less noisy' din but to a better soundscape. Part history, part sociology, part scientific explainer, and at best a vision for our future sonic environment and how we will orchestrate it, ?Clamor?is a must-read for anyone who cares about how their world sounds--Benjamin Markham, president of Acentech As an issue, noise often flies below our collective radar--in fact, it's often ignored completely. But?Clamor?grabs your attention from the very first word, telling a compelling and well-researched story about why we as a society ignore noise at our own peril.--Rick Neitzel, professor of environmental health sciences, University of Michigan, and principal investigator of the Apple Hearing Study Chris Berdik's?Clamor?comes at the perfect time. The 'appetite for sonic refuge, ' as he puts it, has become a universal need in an era of?ever-growing attacks on our basic senses.?This book?is a suitably calm and clear-eyed guide to the resistance.--John Lingan, author of?A Song For Everyone: The Story of Creedence Clearwater Revival Sound powerfully affects our health for better and for worse. Pulling together the many influences noise exerts on life all in one place, ?Clamor?will at last spawn much-needed awareness of this underrecognized pernicious influence.--Nina Kraus, professor of neurobiology, Northwestern University, and author of?Of Sound Mind: How Our Brain Constructs a Meaningful Sonic World Noise isn't just sound that causes hearing damage, although the world contains more and more of that. Even much quieter nuisance sound can interrupt our sleep, break our concentration, raise our blood pressure, lower birth weight, and increase our risk of death from multiple causes. . . . Clamor is an important book about an environmental issue that even environmentalists often ignore.--David Owen, author of Volume Control