Noise

Science News,  August 19, 2006  

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NOISE

BART KOSKO

Car alarms, cell phone chatter, speakers blaring music from every corner of every shop and restaurant. People live in a world in which noise is so ubiquitous that they hardly give it a second thought. Noise, generally defined as any unwanted signal, will only continue to grow as the global economy expands, asserts Kosko, a professor of electrical engineering, The author's goal in this book is to demonstrate how noise is both good and bad and how scientists are analyzing the various sources and effects of noise. The author explains the concepts behind digital noise and stochastic resonance, an effect in which the addition of noise improves the perception of a faint signal. He defines at which point noise qualifies as a nuisance that laws typically protect people against. Kosko reviews noise's health effects--on both people and animals--and the modern technologies being developed to counteract these effects. He explains noise-cancellation technologies and how noise is being used to create synthetic speech. Viking, 2006, 252 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $24.95.

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