Page 8 - Summer2019

From the Editor | Arthur N. Popper
WA. ‘ ____ , One of my “pet peeves” is The “Sound Perspectives” pieces inthis issue of ATare quite
' —' . the increasing sound levels diverse. “Ask an Acoustician” features my old friend Sa.rn
D I ’ VI in restaurants. Dining out, Ridgway. Sam, who is often referred to as the “Dolphin
V A 7” ". ' with a rare exception, has Doctor,” was the world’s first marine mammal veterinar-
:' ‘, ,~-A ' become a hearing challenge: ian. He continues to have a fascinating career that mixes
5'. A ' ‘ H achallenge to hear the server medicine and extraordinary research on the biology of
9 ~ I and a challenge to hear your marine mammals.
* .‘ tablernates. Indeed, my wife
— and I have “discovered” that Another essay is by another old friend of mine, Ed Walsh.
amuch more pleasant evening is dining at home with friends Ed chairs the ASA Public Policy Committee, something I
because conversation does not involve shouting to be heard, knew nothing about but which has the potential to hold
not hearing much of what is said due to acoustic masking, great importance for all ASA members.
and possibly developing temporary threshold shift (hearing
loss) over dinner. And so, at a recent meeting of the Acousti- We also have an essay by a young friend of mine (no, I do
cal Society of America (ASA), when I heard a talk by Kenneth not only ask friends to write essays, but it just happens that
Roy, I immediately invited him to contribute to this issue of there are three such essays in this issue), Laura Kloepper.
Acoustics Today (AT), an article he wrote with Keely Siebein. Laura is involved in a number of important ASA commit-
The article gives fascinating insight into the basis for high tees, but the focus of this article comes from a talk she gave
sound levels in restaurants and an appreciation of the fact at a recent ASA meeting on communicating science to non-
that even if a restauranteur wants to lower sound levels, the scientists. Laura teaches this subject in very creative ways,
challenges are great. I trust that most (if not all) members of and because it is an area that I think is very importa.nt and
the ASA will “relate” to this article, as did I. Indeed, I invite one relevant to all of us, I asked her to share her approach
you to download copies and provide it to the manager of your so that others might give some thought of adopting similar
favorite restaurants; maybe they will “get the message.” courses elsewhere.
The first article also comes from a talk at an ASA meeting. The other two essays reflect support for the ASA Student
There, Gordon Ramsay discussed the history of machines Council and for the ASA Women in Acoustics committee. In
that produce speech. Although I was not at the talk, I heard a report from the Student Council, Kali Burke and William
about it from several colleagues and a.m delighted to have Doebler discuss ways that students can get more involved in
this fascinating article. ASA and the value of getting involved for developing net-
works that will be useful now and in the future. The idea of
Our third article, by Iames TenCate and Marcel Remillieux, networking and its value is very much the theme of the essay
discusses the acoustics of rocks. This is an area I had not from Tracianne Neilsen, Lauren Ronsse, and T. Christina
much thought about, but I think readers will find, as did I, Zhao from the Women in Acoustics group. This essay, which
that the acoustica.l properties of rocks are not only fascinating really applies to all ASA members, reflects on the need to
but also very revealing. And I suggest that readers also check develop networks and mentors throughout one’s career.
out the Marcel’s BioSketch and do a search for his French
bakery. I wonder if it is quiet! Finally, I am pleased to a.nnounce that this issue of AT is the
first with our new production team, Opus Design. The firm
The fourth article by Bradley Treeby, Iiri Iaros, Eleanor Martin, is located in the United States (Boston) and Germany, and
and Ben Cox is another in what has become an informal it has exceptional experience in creative design. We don’t
series inATthat deals with use of ultrasound in biomedicine. anticipate much change in the design right now (though
In this fascinating article, the authors talk about how one there are a number of subtle changes to improve the read-
predicts the path of ultrasound in the body, and it becomes ability and look of the magazine), but down the road, as
apparent that the path is not simple to predict and is affected we and Opus get to know one another, we look forward to
by many different aspects of the body tissues. perhaps enhancing AT in interesting ways.
s | A.=au.c|u-I13.-.uy| Summer 2019