About this collection

Everything vibrates and makes sound, from living cells in the human body to skyscrapers. In the world at large, sound is a travelling wave of vibrating particles. Yet, sound interpreted by the brain can carry information, and meaning. Our relationship with sound is correspondingly complex. It is the substrate for language and culture; a source of pleasure but also pain; it is pollution and a health risk; it is a tool for medicine and manufacturing, and provides a way to monitor the physical and animal world. For many animals it is a means to survive, to kill, and for some a way to navigate the world.

2020/21 is the first International Year of Sound: a UNESCO triggered celebration of sound and how it enters our lives in so many ways. This collection will explore the many faceted science of sound: how humankind and other animals perceive it, its many uses, and the problems it can bring to us and the environment.

Sound cuts across many disciplines: from medicine and neuroscience to the environment. It applies mathematics and technology to these domains. Sound is a global health concern: Hearing loss affects 5% of the world’s population (WHO estimate). A special collection about sound could inspire a new generation of scientists, medics and engineers. Our experts from the UK Acoustics Network (>1000 members), and the International Year of Sound team (195 participating countries) will cover a wide range of topics cutting across journal specialties.

We are collating articles which portray the diversity and wonder of how sound reflects and affects the world, and how it reflects and affects us. These articles can either review a core concept in acoustics or cover a recent scientific article by the authors, rewritten for a young audience (8-15). They must fit within the broad themes of biodiversity, earth and its resources, neuroscience, health and mathematics.