The Sonic Imperative: Sound in the Age of Screens is free as a download.
“Every chapter provides entertaining and illuminating information about the centrality of hearing and sound to human experience.”
- Can infants in the womb hear their parents?
- Why is permanent hearing damage so common?
- Why should hearing be known as the first sense?
- What is a “sonic gun,” and how does it disrupt communications?
- Why are restaurants so loud?
- What is the relationship between brain “plasticity” and language learning?
- What kind of sound is an ingenious way some convenience stores discourage loitering?
- How did Motown create their unique sound?
- What does an ideal listening space look like?
- How is baseball’s Citizen’s Bank Park in Philadelphia made to be loud?
- What is the sonic “mode” of a room, and why does it matter?
- Who owns the rights to the song, “Happy Birthday?”
- What is the most common complaint of residents living in New York City?
- How long does it take for sound to travel the length of Notre Dame Cathedral?
- How did Barbara Streisand help revive interest in movies shown in theaters?
This example-filled project is an accessible exploration of the central role of auditory experience in American life, building from two core themes: that sound is the newest of our senses, having been reborn in twentieth century audio technologies; and that we vastly underrate spoken language and music as vital portals to the culture. The Sonic Imperative offers a compelling counter-narrative to the bias for the visual in our screen-obsessed age. (320 pages, 4.1 MB PDF)
“Gary Woodward argues for the central importance of human hearing and celebrates our auditory prowess. Woodward, a specialist in communication theory, ranges far afield here, covering anatomy, technology, psychology, and culture and shedding light on topics from sound recording to film scores to the weaponizing of sound.” Amazon Reviews
⇓ Download the free and complete book below ⇓
https://theperfectresponse.pages.tcnj.edu/files/2025/07/Sonic-Imperative-final.pdf
Also available at Amazon.com, 320 pages
