Theoretical Acoustics

Book excerpt: This volume, available for the first time in paperback, is a standard work on the physical aspects of acoustics. Starting from first principles, the authors have successfully produced a unified and thorough treatment of the subjects of generation, propagation, absorption, reflection, and scattering of compressional waves in fluids, progressing to such topics as moving sound sources, turbulence, and wave-induced vibration of structures. Material is included on viscous and thermal effects, on the acoustics of moving media, on plasma acoustics, on nonlinear effects, and on the interaction between light and sound. Problems, with answers in many cases, are given at the end of each chapter. They contain extensions to further applications, thus enhancing the reference value of the book. Many of the examples worked out in the text and in the problem solutions were not previously published. Anyone familiar with calculus and vector analysis should be able to understand the mathematical techniques used here.