Acoustics: An Introduction to Its Physical Principles and Applications [Illustrated] [Hardcover]

Allan D. Pierce (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover: 678 pages
• Publisher: Acoustical Society of Amer (June 1989)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0883186128
• ISBN-13: 978-0883186121
• Product Dimensions: 9.2 x 6.2 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #299,866 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

18 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Deep and Classic Approach to Acoustics, December 2, 2000

By 

Peter J Torvik Jr (38000 Grenoble France) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Acoustics: An Introduction to Its Physical Principles and Applications (Hardcover)

Texts on acoustics approach the subject from many different angles and at many different levels. Pierce's text is classic, rigorous and complete. It should serve the needs of serious students of acoustics for a variety of purposes - musical acoustics and sound are my particular perspective.

Some writers cater their approach to electrical engineers or to mechanical engineers, assuming that by tieing everything to those disciplines they will make the effort easier for their readers. This may serve well those who come from those disciplines, but may not serve others well and may not serve all applications of acoustics equally well either. Pierce does not do so. His approach is rigorously mathematical and pure, going to the heart of the matter, rather than one of attempting to cut corners by making analogies to other fields that you may or may not know.

The book is not for the faint of heart or the mildly curious, it is deep and demanding. But he organizes it superbly and writes intelligently with a wonderful way of integrating the history and development of the science, and the graphics are exceptionally clear and communicative.

Highly recommended for the very serious about this subject. My favorite among the books I have consulted.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Good book, July 24, 2005

By 

Kiran K. Konde "KK" (Blacksburg, VA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Acoustics: An Introduction to Its Physical Principles and Applications (Mcgraw Hill Series in Mechanical Engineering) (Hardcover)

This book was used as a text book for one of our courses during my masters. In my opinion it is one of the classic books available in acoustics. If you want to learn fundamentals and to know "why" for any acoustical phenomena, then this book is for you. If you are looking for an applied (engineering) kind of book, then this book is not for you. The author gives a clear and concise approach to the acoustics problem formulations. The end of chapter excercises are very helpful(some problems require references to current journal literature for detailed formulation).

Clearly this is the book to learn physical pricnciples from. I wish the author would have added a topic on acoustic analogies in aeroacoustics.

5.0 out of 5 stars Pierce "Acoustics: An Introduction to Its Physical Principles and Applications", April 7, 2011

By 

dd sydney - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Acoustics: An Introduction to Its Physical Principles and Applications (Hardcover)

I came across this in a library, and read chapters immediately relevant to me (low frequency models of sound transmission). I was so impressed with the chapters that I read (and the others which I skimmed through) that I elected to buy this book.