Sound Affects - by Julian Treasure (Hardcover)

Book Synopsis

A lively, engaging narrative that takes readers on an epic journey spanning disciplines, continents, and centuries that spotlights sound's incredible impact on our bodies, feelings, thinking, and behavior.

Hearing is the first sense we develop--a primary warning sense hardwired into our brains. And yet, in an increasingly noisy and distracted world, most people pay very little attention to sound. In school, we teach reading and writing, but not listening. Conscious listening is rare, and, with over half the world's population now living in cities, billions of people never experience the rich and (we now know) health-enhancing sounds of the natural world.

Every day, the sounds around us affect our experience and fundamentally alter our quality of life, for better or worse. In four sections--geophony, the sounds of the planet; biophony, the "great animal orchestra"; anthropophony, the sounds of humanity; and silence, a sound in its own right--this book will help readers rediscover the wonder of sound and understand how powerfully it affects us, whether we're paying attention or not. It will also offer readers a manual for taking back responsibility for the sounds we consume and the sounds we make, so we can enhance our own happiness, effectiveness and well-being.

Review Quotes

"A fascinating insight into the power of sound."--Susan Cain, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Bittersweet and Quiet

"Transformative and a fascinating read; this book will open your ears to the world of sound and change your life."--Steven Bartlett, best-selling author of The Diary of a CEO

About the Author

Julian Treasure is a sought-after and top-rated international speaker. Collectively, his five TED talks on various aspects of sound and communication have been viewed more than 120 million times. "How to Speak So That People Want to Listen" is in the top 10 TED talks of all time. Treasure has been widely featured as a sound and communication expert across international media, including TIME Magazine; The Economist; The Times; and many international TV and radio stations and podcasts. He is a Liveryman of the Worshipful Company of Marketers, a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts and a long-time musician, remembering with affection his two 1981 BBC John Peel sessions (the bands were Transmitters and Missing Presumed Dead). He lives in Orkney, Scotland with Jane and their daughters, Holly and Sapphire.