Acoustical Engineering

The first edition of this book, published in 1940, was the subject matter of thirty lectures prepared for presentation at Columbia University. It was an exposition of the fundamental principles used in modern acoustics and a description of existing acoustical instruments and systems. Many and varied advances were made in acoustical engineering in the seven years following the issuance of the first edition. The second edition of the book, published in 1947, covered the advances in acoustics which were made in the period between the first and second editions. Since the publication of the second edition, the developments in acoustics have been on an ever greater scale than in the period between the first and second edi­tions. Today, the science of acoustics includes the generation, transmission, reception, absorption, conversion, detection, reproduction and control of sound. An important division of acoustical engineering is sound repro­duction as exemplified by the telephone, radio, phonograph, sound motion picture and television. These sound reproducing systems are universally employed in all variations of modern living. The impact of the reproduc­tion of sound by these systems upon the dissemination of information, art and culture has been tremendous.