Noise.NOISE BART KOSKO Car alarms, cell phone chatter Chatter See: Whipsawed , 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 electrical engineering: see engineering. electrical engineering Branch of engineering concerned with the practical applications of electricity in all its forms, including those of electronics. , 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 Stochastic resonance (also known as SR) occurs when the signal-to-noise ratio of a nonlinear device is maximized for a moderate value of noise intensity. It often occurs in bistable and excitable systems with subthreshold inputs. , 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 nuisance, in law, an act that, without legal justification, interferes with safety, comfort, or the use of property. A private nuisance (e.g., erecting a wall that shuts off a neighbor's light) is one that affects one or a few persons, while a public nuisance (e.g. 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 synthetic speech n. Speech that is produced by an electronic synthesizer activated by a keyboard, enabling individuals who are incapable of speech to communicate. . Viking, 2006, 252 p., b&w illus., hardcover, $24.95. |
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