The major work by a Nobel Laureate who was among the greatest of 19th-century physicists is a standard compendium which has served generations of acousticians, physicists, and mathematical physicists as the classic coverage of all aspects of sound, both experimental and theoretical.

The book sums up previous research and offers original contributions of Lord Rayleigh. It is, therefore, not only a reference book, but a book of great practical utility for all readers concerned with scientific aspects of sound. Volume 1 covers harmonic vibrations, systems with one degree of freedom, vibrating systems in general, transverse vibrations of strings, longitudinal and torsional vibrations of bars, vibrations of membranes and plates, curved shells and plates, and electrical vibrations. Volume II covers aerial vibrations, vibrations in tubes, reflection and refraction of plane waves, general equations, theory of resonators, Laplace's functions and acoustics, spherical sheets of air, vibration of solid bodies, and facts and theories of audition.

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