It is hard to hold onto the fading season when we are bombarded by commercials for school supplies. Embrace the contradiction and take one last stab at summer reading with these nonfiction titles, each offering educational illumination with an infusion of fun. From sand that sings to moaning trees to a sewage tunnel that wraps speech into a sound spiral, acoustic engineering expert Trevor Cox provides a global excursion through peculiar, puzzling, and astounding soundscapes in THE SOUND BOOK: THE SCIENCE OF THE SONIC WONDERS OF THE WORLD (Norton. 2013. ISBN 9780393239799. $26.95; ebk. ISBN 9780393242829). With a gift for vivid description, clear research, and an endless excitement for the topic, Cox encourages us all to listen more attentively to the world. As he tours London, the Mayan pyramids, the American West, and more, he shares the delights of various sounds and reveals the ways they are created-from naturally occurring phenomena to human-made resonances.
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