The first edition of this book presented the principles of vibration and sound with only a little discussion of applications of these principles. During the past eight years, our own experience, as well as that of other teachers who used it as a textbook, has indicated that students would benefit from more discussion of applications. In this edition we have revised some of the mate rial in the first nine chapters, but more importantly we have added four new chapters dealing with applications, including microphones, loudspeakers, and other transducers; acoustics of concert halls and studios; sound and noise outdoors; and underwater sound. Of course we could have selected many additional applications of vibration and sound, but that would have led to a book with too much material for the average acoustics course in physics and engineering departments. We think there is now ample material in the book so that instructors may select the applications of particular in terest and omit the others without loss of continuity. We have continued to stress concepts over detailed theory, as seems most appropriate for an in troductory course. We appreciate the comments we have received from users, students, and teachers alike, and we continue to welcome feedback. September 2003 Thomas D. Rossing Neville H. Fletcher Preface to the First Edition Some years ago we set out to write a detailed book about the basic physics of musical instruments.
From the reviews of the second edition: "This book is designed to serve as a text for an introductory course in acoustics for physics or engineering students. ... On the basis of its clear and concise exposition of a mix of basic and applied subject matter, I would recommend this book for consideration as a text in an introductory acoustics course. ... I again wish to acknowledge the overall excellence of Principles of Vibration and Sound as a solid text for introductory acoustics." (Arnold Tubis, Journal of the Acoustical Society of America, Vol. 116 (5), 2004)