Index

Acknowledgments ix

List of Figures xi

1 Introduction: A History and Geography of Acoustics 1
   1.1 Sound and Acoustics 3
   1.2 A Geography of Acoustics: Sound, Space, and Time 6
   1.3 Sound and Power: Acoustics as an Imperial Science 11
   1.4 Concepts and Significance of Noise in Acoustics 17
   1.5 Electroacoustics and Analog Thinking 18
   1.6 Transformations of Science and Sound from the Fin de Siecle to the Interwar Years 21

2 The Electrification of Sound: From High Culture to Electropolis 27
   2.1 Acoustics in the Age of Empire 27
   2.2 Helmholtz's On the Sensations of Tone and Rayleigh's The Theory of Sound 32
   2.3 Experimental Psychology and Beyond: From the Physics of Sensation to the Evolution of Music 41
   2.4 Electrification of Sound: Electrodynamic Theory, Instruments, and
       Circuit Design 48
   2.5 Electroacoustics in the Electromagnetic Worldview: The Electric Arc as an Experimental System for Oscillation Research 58

3 Science Goes to War: Warfare and the Industrialization of Acoustics 67
   3.1 Acoustics in the Chemists' War 67
   3.2 Signal and Noise: Sound Detection on the Battlefield
      3.2.1 Artillery Ranging 72
      3.2.2 Locating Aircraft by Sound 82
      3.2.3 Underwater Acoustics and U-boat Warfare 89
   3.3 The Transformation of Sound Measurement 101
   3.4 Wireless and the Rise of Electroacoustics 105
   3.5 The Great War and the Transformation of Acoustics 109

4 Between Science and Engineering, Academia and Industry: Acoustics in the Weimar Republic 115
   4.1 Acoustics between Science and Engineering 115
   4.2 Acoustics at the Technische Hochschule 121
      4.2.1 Electroacoustics as Low-Voltage Engineering in Dresden 123
      4.2.2 Technical Acoustics as Technische Physik in Munich 128
   4.3 Sound Industry: Acoustics Research in Corporate Laboratories 135
      4.3.1 Electric Noise: Amplifiers and Loudspeaker Design at Siemens Laboratories 142
      4.3.2 Sound Motion Pictures: Acoustics at the AEG Research Institute 150
   4.4 Public Research Laboratories 157
      4.4.1 The Heinrich-Hertz-lnstitut fur Schwingungsforschung 158
      4.4.2 The Institut fur Schall- und Warmeforschung 163
   4.5 Institutions of Technische Akustik in the Weimar Republic 169

5 Acoustics Goes Back to War: Mass Mobilization and Remilitarization of Acoustics Research 173
   5.1 A New Sound for a New Time? Acoustics and Nazi Germany 173
   5.2 "Technik ist Dienst am Volke"—Acoustics as Ideology 175
   5.3 Volksempfanger and Gemeinschaftsempfang 178
   5.4 Electroacoustic Amplification of Large Political Rallies 180
   5.5 Remilitarization of Acoustics Research 184

6 Conclusion: The New Acoustics 189
   6.1 Acoustics as Modern Physics 189
   6.2 Topographies of Science and Discipline Building 196
   6.3 Sound Measurement 200
   6.4 Concepts of Noise and Their Diffusion 202
   6.5 Electroacoustics as a New Way of Thinking and Talking about Sound 208

Notes 215 
References 251 
Name Index 283 
Subject Index 289 
Series List 299