What the Ear Hears (and Doesn't): Inside the Extraordinary Everyday World of Frequency

by Richard Mainwaring

Overview

"You'll never listen to the world the same way again. A truly ear-opening experience!" —Chris Ferrie, award-winning physicist and author of Where Did the Universe Come From? And Other Cosmic Questions

For readers of Neil deGrasse Tyson and Bill O'Neill, What the Ear Hears (and Doesn't) is a fascinating science book for adults that explores the physics principle of frequency and the (sometimes weird) role it plays in our everyday lives.

What do the world's loneliest whale, a black hole, and twenty-three people doing Tae Bo all have in common?

In 2011, a skyscraper in South Korea began to shake uncontrollably without warning and was immediately evacuated. Was it an earthquake? An attack? No one seemed quite sure. The actual cause emerged later and is utterly fascinating: Twenty-three middle-aged folks were having a Tae Bo fitness class in the office gym on the twelfth floor. Their beats had inadvertently matched the building's natural frequency, and this coincidence—harnessing a basic principle of physics—caused the building to shake at an alarming rate for ten minutes. Frequency is all around us, but little understood.

Musician, composer, TV presenter, and educator Richard Mainwaring uses the concept of the Infinite Piano to reveal the extraordinary world of frequency in a multitude of arenas—from medicine to religion to the environment to the paranormal—through the universality of music and a range of memorable human (and animal) stories laced with dry humor. Whether you're science curious, musically inclined, or just want to know what a Szechuan pepper has to do with physics, What the Ear Hears (and Doesn't) is an immensely enjoyable read filled with "did you know?" trivia you'll love to share with friends.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781728259369
Publisher:	Sourcebooks
Publication date:	12/27/2022
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	279,432
Product dimensions:	5.40(w) x 8.10(h) x 1.00(d)

About the Author

Richard Mainwaring is a performing musician, composer, TV presenter and educator. He has composed music for Netflix, the BBC, and the International Space Station. He is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist, and has worked with artists as diverse as Hugh Laurie, Larry Adler, Eartha Kitt, Hayley Westenra and Tom Odell. He has also presented over fifty short films for the BBC.

Editorial Reviews

10/31/2022

Musician Mainwaring takes a deep dive into the “extraordinary world of vibration, waves, and frequency” in his zippy debut. As he writes, “from communicating where the next meal is to drumming out a courtship dance... living things rely on hertz.” His tour through the auditory world sees him explain that until the 20th century, an A note could be “anything from Handel’s 422 Hz to Beethoven’s 455 Hz” depending on the country; that understanding frequencies enabled the development of Polaroid cameras and printers; and that the frequency of a honeybee’s wings whirring is 250 Hz, which makes the note of B. He routinely ties frequencies to various pieces of popular music: Brahms’s “Lullaby” helps “illustrate the pitches” of WWII air-raid sirens, for example, and the bonds that join the atoms in nitrous oxide vibrate at a frequency the same as Andy Williams’s opening note of “Moon River.” Though he can get a bit into the weeds (“A frequency of 5,000 Hz... will have a peak hair cell sensitivity around ten millimeters along the cochlea”), Mainwaring’s well-tuned sense of humor and ample use of puns help the jargon go down. Music-minded readers won’t regret tuning in. (Dec.)

Publishers Weekly

"You'll never listen to the world the same way again. A truly ear-opening experience!" — Chris Ferrie, award-winning physicist and author of Where Did the Universe Come From? And Other Cosmic Questions

"Mainwaring's book brilliantly connects the expansive science of frequency to the familiar tones and music of everyday life. Readers will find themselves humming along and imagining themselves in concert with a black hole, a lonely whale, or a speeding train as they learn about the rich mix of vibrations that permeate the world around us." — Emily Levesque, award-winning astronomer and author of The Last Stargazers

"Musician Mainwaring takes a deep dive into the 'extraordinary world of vibration, waves, and frequency' in his zippy debut... Music-minded readers won’t regret tuning in." — Publishers Weekly

From the Publisher

07/01/2022

Musician/composer Mainwaring discusses the science of frequency, which involves a whole lot more than your favorite song. From buildings that shake when, say, a dance class tunes into its natural frequency, to the use of frequency in medicine and a source of religion's inspiration, to the famous "world's loneliest whale" with its unique call, frequency is of vital importance in everything.

Library Journal

Mainwaring’s book brilliantly connects the expansive science of frequency to the familiar tones and music of everyday life.”

award-winning astronomer and author of The Last St Emily Levesque

You’ll never listen to the world the same way again. A truly ear-opening experience!”

award-winning physicist and author of Where Did th Chris Ferrie