Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

Every day, we are beset by millions of sounds-ambient ones like the rumble of the train and the hum of air conditioner, as well as more pronounced sounds, such as human speech, music, and sirens. But how do we process what we hear every day? This book answers such revealing questions as-
Why do we often fall asleep on train rides or in the car, and what does it have to do with hearing?
What is it about the sound of fingernails on a chalkboard that makes us cringe?
Why do city folks have trouble sleeping in the country, and vice versa?
Why can't you get that jingle out of your head?
Starting with the basics of the biology, neuroscientist and musician Seth Horowitz explains how sound affects us, and in turn, how we've learned to manipulate sound- into music, commercial jingles, car horns, and modern inventions like cochlear implants, ultrasound scans, and the mosquito ringtone. Combining the best parts of This is Your Brain on Music and How We Decide, this book gives new insight into what the sounds of our world have to do with the way we think, feel, and interact.

Table of contents provided by Syndetics

• Foreword and Acknowledgments (p. ix)
• Introduction (p. 1)
• Chapter 1 In the Beginning Was the Boom (p. 6)
• Chapter 2 Spaces and Places: A Walk in the Park (p. 24)
• Chapter 3 Listeners of the Low End: Fish and Frogs (p. 47)
• Chapter 4 The High-Frequency Club (p. 73)
• Chapter 5 What Lies Below: Time, Attention, and Emotion (p. 94)
• Chapter 6 Ten Dollars to the First Person who Can Define "Music" (and Get a Musician, a Psychologist, a Composer, a Neuroscientist, and Someone Listening to an iPod to Agree...) (p. 132)
• Chapter 7 Sticky Ears: Soundtracks, Laugh Tracks, and Jingles All the Way (p. 163)
• Chapter 8 Hacking Your Brain Through Your Ears (p. 186)
• Chapter 9 Weapons and Weirdness (p. 216)
• Chapter 10 Future Noizes (p. 246)
• Chapter 11 You Are What You Hear (p. 272)
• Selected Sources and Suggested Readings (p. 285)
• Index (p. 295)

Reviews provided by Syndetics

Publishers Weekly Review

Brown University neuroscientist Horowitz has pulled off an unusual feat. His science book, about the way hearing shapes the "evolution, development, and day-to-day function of the mind," can be genuinely poetic. It is also laced with humor. Horowitz says he attempted less a text than a venue for imparting "wonder." He succeeds, unearthing one little-known gem after another. There are no deaf vertebrates, signaling hearing's importance. Everywhere there is energy, there is sound: solar winds "howl"; black holes thrum in B-flat. Human hearing is "faster-than-thought," can capture "a wide range of tones and timbres that visual color cannot hope to match," and more "flexibility" than taste and smell. All this lets sound "drive a fantastic range of subconscious elements in the living organism." Horowitz beautifully describes how the evolution of fervently communicating life forms changed the sounds of early earth "from incidental noise to songs." He explains how hearing rewires our brains into adulthood, and notes that hearing can prompt our neurons to release pleasurable oxytocin when exposed to musical frequencies, yet sicken us at other frequencies (inner-city noise has been linked to heart problems). The ability to hear is still, by and large, a mystery. This is an often eloquent introduction to what is known. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

CHOICE Review

The Universal Sense is a fascinating analysis of the history of sound and its connection to our world, our life, and our psychological state. The author's goal is to explain how "sound and hearing have shaped the evolution, development, and day-to-day function of the mind." Neuroscientist Horowitz (Brown Univ.) makes some very complex phenomena palatable to readers and ties them to people's everyday experiences with sound. The 11-chapter book discusses topics such as what animals hear, how people filter sound, the effect of sound on people's emotions, and the use of sound in weaponry. It ends with an interesting discussion of what the future may hold for the field of acoustical science and how this may affect rehabilitation for the hearing-impaired population. Though not for casual readers, it is an important book for all current and aspiring speech and auditory scientists seeking a detailed and compelling presentation about the powerful impact that sound makes on all living beings. Summing Up: Highly recommended. Upper-division undergraduates, graduate students, researchers/faculty, and professionals; informed general audiences. I. G. Ashbaugh Truman State University

Booklist Review

We live in a sonic world. Sounds and vibration affect our mood, memories, and mind. Neuroscientist Horowitz's aim is to amp up understanding and respect for our auditory environment. He draws on physiology, physics, and psychology to demonstrate how sound and hearing have shaped the evolution, development, and day-to-day function of the mind. Sound assists in mating, playing, and acquiring food. Hearing helps us stay vigilant and monitor our surroundings. Horowitz contemplates the difficulty in defining music and how it influences the mind. He highlights the power of acoustics by invoking our usual reaction to the noise of fingernails scraping across a blackboard, the employment of echolocation by bats, and the love songs of frogs. He defuses the hype of sound-based weaponry that dates back to Joshua and his hundreds of warriors who blew on rams' horns and shouted in unison to collapse the walls of Jericho. It must be myth or miracle, since physics alone cannot explain the magnitude of such a sonic blast. The science of sound is fascinating, and Horowitz is an author worth listening to.--Miksanek, Tony Copyright 2010 Booklist

Kirkus Book Review

How our sense of hearing affects how we think, feel and act. "What we think of as sound," writes Horowitz (Neuroscience and Psychology/Brown Univ.), "is split between two factors, physics and psychology." This dichotomy forms the framework of the author's debut book, with chapters examining both how we hear sounds and the effects those sounds have on our brains. Horowitz first spends several chapters on how hearing works, using bullfrogs as the model animal to demonstrate how low-frequency sound works, then flipping to bats to discuss high-frequency sounds. After establishing the physical mechanics of hearing, Horowitz moves on to what he calls "psychophysics": the relationship between what we hear and how we react. For example, a recording of angry bees is "almost universally frightening"; even elephants will move away from the sound and call out a warning to others. While there are some interesting factoids like this scattered throughout the book--e.g., readers will be surprised to hear that herring emit bubbles from their anuses to make ultrasonic noises--these moments are few and far between, with most examples coming off as bland illustrations for whatever is being analyzed in a particular chapter. Throughout, the prose is stuffy and overly explanatory and academic, and Horowitz punctuates the text with heavy-handed quirky asides. Each chapter begins like a new week's lecture, and, ultimately, the book never manages to coalesce around any overarching idea. A fairly dreary read about what should be a fascinating subject.]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.