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Loading... One Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World (original 2009; edition 2009)by Gordon Hempton
Work InformationOne Square Inch of Silence: One Man's Search for Natural Silence in a Noisy World by Gordon Hempton (2009)
  
None No current Talk conversations about this book.   ) pamur | May 18, 2018 |  fpagan | Apr 13, 2010 | As Gordon drives across the USA in this sort of travel memoir steeped in the traditions of John Muir, Walden and Aldo Leopold, he records levels with a sound-meter and thus experiences the American coast-to-coast road trip through the hearing sense. The book may even be pioneering a new form of travel/nature literature, experiencing the world through the aesthetic of sound, specifically the lack of man-made noise (including music), and the presence of natural sounds. Few if any authors have ever approached a book in this way before. It may seem overly precious and perhaps a bit odd to some people, like Gordon's rebellious teenage daughter; yet Gordon really does seem to be on to something. Some have said noise pollution is where air pollution was 40 or 50 years ago, a few people concerned but becoming increasingly important. "The loss of quiet is literally the loss of awareness. Quiet is being lost without people even becoming aware of what they are loosing." This book brings a new awareness. --Review by Stephen Balbach, via CoolReading (c) 2008 cc-by-nd (  ) Stbalbach | Mar 14, 2009 | no reviews | add a review
In the visionary tradition of Rachel Carson's Silent Spring, One Square Inch of Silence alerts us to beauty that we take for granted and sounds an urgent environmental alarm. Natural silence is our nation's fastest-disappearing resource, warns Emmy-winning acoustic ecologist Gordon Hempton, who has made it his mission to record and preserve it in all its variety--before these soul-soothing terrestrial soundscapes vanish completely in the ever-rising din of man-made noise. Recalling the great works on nature written by John Muir, John McPhee, and Peter Matthiessen, this beautifully written narrative, co-authored with John Grossmann, is also a quintessentially American story--a road trip across the continent from west to east in a 1964 VW bus. But no one has crossed America like this. Armed with his recording equipment and a decibel-measuring sound-level meter, Hempton bends an inquisitive and loving ear to the varied natural voices of the American landscape--bugling elk, trilling thrushes, and drumming, endangered prairie chickens. He is an equally patient and perceptive listener when talking with people he meets on his journey about the importance of quiet in their lives. By the time he reaches his destination, Washington, D.C., where he meets with federal officials to press his case for natural silence preservation, Hempton has produced a historic and unforgettable sonic record of America. With the incisiveness of Jack Kerouac's observations on the road and the stirring wisdom of Robert Pirsig repairing an aging vehicle and his life, One Square Inch of Silence provides a moving call to action. More than simply a book, it is an actual place, too, located in one of America's last naturally quiet places, in Olympic National Park in Washington State. No library descriptions found. |
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 Google Books — Loading...GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)333.782160973Social sciences Economics Economics of land & energy Land, recreational and wilderness areas, energy Recreational and wilderness areas WildernessLC ClassificationRatingAverage: (4)
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