Book Review

Canada and the United States

Scholars from a variety of fields and disciplines have studied the history of sound technology and its relationship to broad patterns of social and cultural change. Their studies have yielded insights into a wide range of topics, from the tonality and meaning of village bells in nineteenth-century France to the role of record producers in contemporary American music. Emily Thompson's book is a welcome addition to this growing body of literature. The book shows how American scientists and engineers, in the early twentieth century, developed tools and techniques to measure and control the behavior of sound. As these men gained technological mastery over physical environments, they transformed the nation's aural landscape and brought a new sense of uniformity and efficiency to daily life. Their accomplishments took place within the context of a changing cultural setting, where discriminating consumers shaped the course of events.

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The book begins with a biographical sketch of Wallace Sabine, the Harvard physicist who largely founded the field of acoustical science. At the turn of the century, Sabine investigated the behavior of sound waves in a variety of places and spaces and in the process discovered basic principles of sound reverberation. Sabine's reverberation theory had major implications for the future. It spawned a new community of researchers that developed better tools and techniques for measuring and controlling sound and a new language that helped people think and talk about the science of acoustics. It also fueled the rise of the acoustical building industry, which expanded rapidly in the 1920s. By then, the lines between acoustical research and commercial activity had grown blurry, and the "new acousticians" found lucrative jobs in the corporate world.

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