Sound and Noise: A Listener's Guide to Everyday Life

409 Pages·2020·2.291 MB·English

by  Marcia Jenneth Epstein

Acknowledgments i
SOUND AND NOISE
mcgill-queen’s refugee and forced migration
studies
Series editors: Megan Bradley and James Milner
Forced migrationis a local, national, regional,and globalchallenge with pro-
found political and social implications. Understanding the causes and conse-
quencesof, and possible responses to,forced migration requires careful analy-
sis from a range of disciplinary perspectives, as well as interdisciplinary
dialogue.
The purpose of the McGill-Queen’s Refugee and Forced Migration Studies
series is to advance in-depth examination of diverse forms, dimensions,and
experiences of displacement, including in the context of conflict and violence,
repression and persecution,anddisasters and environmental change. The series
will explore responses to refugees, internal displacement,and other forms of
forced migration to illuminate the dynamics surrounding forced migration in
global, national,and local contexts, including Canada, the perspectives of dis-
placed individuals and communities, and the connections to broader patterns
of human mobility.Featuring research from fields including politics, interna-
tional relations, law, anthropology, sociology, geography,and history, the series
highlightsnew and critical areas of enquiry within the field, especially conver-
sations across disciplines and from the perspective of researchers in the global
South, where the majority of forced migration unfolds. The series benefits
from an international advisory board made up of leading scholars in refugee
and forced migration studies.
1 The Criminalization of Migration
Context and Consequences
Edited by Idil Atak and James C. Simeon
preface iii
McGill-Queen’s University Press
Montreal & Kingston • London • Chicago
iv preface
© McGill-Queen’s University Press 2020
isbn978-0-2280-0388-5(cloth)
isbn978-0-2280-0449-3(epdf)
isbn978-0-2280-0450-9(epub)
Legal deposit fourth quarter 2020
Bibliothèque nationale du Québec
Printed in Canada on acid-free paper that is 100% ancient forest free (100%
post-consumer recycled), processed chlorine free
This book has been published with the help of a grant from
the Canadian Federation for the Humanities and Social Sciences, through
the Awards to Scholarly Publications Program, using funds provided by the
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.
Nous remercions le Conseil des arts du Canada de son soutien.
Library and Archives Canada Cataloguing in Publication
Title: Sound and noise : a listener’s guide to everyday life / Marcia Jenneth Epstein.
Names: Epstein, Marcia Jenneth, 1951– author.
Description: Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: Canadiana (print) 20200290576 | Canadiana (ebook) 20200290630 |
isbn9780228003885 (cloth) | isbn9780228004493 (epdf) |
isbn9780228004509 (epub)
Subjects: lcsh: Noise. | lcsh: Noise—Social aspects. | lcsh: Noise—
Psychological aspects. | lcsh: Sound. | lcsh: Hearing. | lcsh: Listening.
Classification: lccra772.n7 e67 2020 | ddc363.74—dc23
This book was typeset by True to Type in 10.5/13Sabon
Acknowledgments v
For Irvin,
whose passion for science lifted mine.
vi Acknowledgments
preface vii
Contents
Tables and Figures ix
Foreword xi
Preface in Mid-Pandemic xiii
Acknowledgments xv
Abbreviations xix
Introduction 3
1 Life without Earlids 10
2 Sound Science 19
3 Studying Sound 35
4 Thunder, Rooster, Hammer, Hum 45
5 Why Noise Annoys 58
6 The Hearing Body 80
7 The Mind’s Ear 89
8 Born Loud 108
9 Growing Up Loud 122
10 Working with Noise 142
11 Quiet, Please: Noise Abatement 163
12 Power and Danger 175
13 The Cacophony of the Commons 192
viii Contents
14 Hear Ye, Hear Ye!Noise and the Law 217
15 Hearing and Healing: Soundscapes in Health Care 238
16 Creating a Culture of Listening 252
17 Tuning a Future 275
Notes 297
References 315
Index 383
Acknowledgments ix
Tables and Figures
tables
2.1 Average decibel readings, selected activities/settings 21
7.1 Suggested parameters for further research on classroom noise 106
14.1 World Health Organization guideline values for community noise
in specific environments 222–3
14.2 Residential neighbourhood noise limits in selected North Ameri-
can cities 229
14.3 US federal regulations for maximum safe exposure to continuous
noise in workplaces per day 233
14.4 Canadian provincial regulations for maximum safe exposure to
continuous and peak noise in workplaces per day, 2016 234
14.5 Noise exposure limits in Canadian jurisdictions, 2020 235
figures
2.1 The human ear (Wikimedia commons, Creative Commons Attribu-
tion 2.5Generic licence) 26
2.2 Damaged hair cell cochlea(Proceedings of the National Academy
of Sciences, 20June 2000) 28