One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Quest to Preserve Quiet
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.30 (675 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 1416559108 |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 368 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2013-09-21 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
From Publishers Weekly Starred Review. Though many Americans may think their country abounds in places free from human interference, acoustic ecologist and professional sound recordist Hempton readily proves otherwise. Along the way, he contemplates the intricacies of his vehicle, the decline in songbird populations and the effects of noise stress in hospitals, while filling readers in on the basics of audio science. . Armed with sound monitoring equipment and a well-defined goal-to find a spot that has "no audible human noise intrusions of any kind for a minimum of 15 minutes"-Hempton drives his VW bus from Seattle to Washington, D.C., visiting national parks
In the visionary tradition of Rachel Carson’s Silent Spring, One Square Inch of Silence alerts us to beauty that we take for granted and sounds an urgent environmental alarm. He is an equally patient and perceptive listener when talking with people he meets on his journey about the importance of quiet in their lives. By the time he reaches his destination, Washington, D.C., where he meets with federal officials to press his case for natural silence preservation, Hempton has produced a historic and unforgettable sonic record of America. Armed with his recording equipment and a decibel-measuring sound-level meter, Hempton bends an inquisitive and loving ear to the varied natural voices of the American landscape—bugling elk, trilling thrushes, and drumming, endangered prairie chickens. With the incisiveness of Jack Kerouac’s observations on the road and the stirring wisdom
One Square Inch of Silence Yvonne W. Isola I highly recommend this well written book which reminds one of man's emotional need for only the sounds of nature that are not destroyed by man's accelerating invasive noise pollution.. "Very interesting but slightly annoying for me at the same time" according to Patrick O. I love the idea of this book. I'm extremely aware of the noises around, and especially the noises that are around in places that should have the noises of nature dominating. After living in and near a national forest for much of my life I've become resigned to the fact that while I love such places for the nearness of the nature, others love such places because of the open opportunity for them to exercise the manifold ways of making mechanical noise. Constant saws, m. I found it interesting (if at some times frustrating), others may find it tedious I first became aware of Mr. Hempton when I complained to a mutual friend about my difficulties in making nature recordings without the intrusion of man-made noise. I was told of Hempton's ongoing frustration with the same issue. This has, in part, led to his establishment of One Square Inch (OSI) in Olympic National Park in Washington state. OSI establishes a single point free from the intrusion of man-made sound, which would affect approx. 1000 square miles.His ongo