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Princeton University Press

The Sounds of Life: How Digital Technology Is Bringing Us Closer to the Worlds of Animals and Plants

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Format: Hardcover


Description

An amazing journey into the hidden realm of nature’s sounds The natural world teems with remarkable conversations, many beyond human hearing range. Scientists are using groundbreaking digital technologies to uncover these astonishing sounds, revealing vibrant communication among our fellow creatures across the Tree of Life. At once meditative and scientific, The Sounds of Life shares fascinating and surprising stories of nonhuman sound, interweaving insights from technological innovation and traditional knowledge. We meet scientists using sound to protect and regenerate endangered species from the Great Barrier Reef to the Arctic and the Amazon. We discover the shocking impacts of noise pollution on both animals and plants. We learn how artificial intelligence can decode nonhuman sounds, and meet the researchers building dictionaries in East African Elephant and Sperm Whalish. At the frontiers of innovation, we explore digitally mediated dialogues with bats and honeybees. Technology often distracts us from nature, but what if it could reconnect us instead? The Sounds of Life offers hope for environmental conservation and affirms humanity’s relationship with nature in the digital age. After learning about the unsuspected wonders of nature’s sounds, we will never see walks outdoors in the same way again. Read more

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press


Publication date ‏ : ‎ October 18, 2022


Edition ‏ : ‎ First Edition


Language ‏ : ‎ English


Print length ‏ : ‎ 368 pages


ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691206287


ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 88


Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2.31 pounds


Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches


Best Sellers Rank: #973,312 in Books (See Top 100 in Books) #82 in Acoustic Engineering #161 in Physics of Acoustics & Sound (Books) #192 in Scientific Experiments & Projects


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Top Amazon Reviews

    • A fascinating journey into the sounds of nature A fascinating journey into the sounds of nature
Format: Hardcover
Review Image by BENOIT GEORGES
There are so many things that our human ears can't hear - infrasounds from the center of volcanos, from thunderstorms or calving glaciers, ultrasounds from insects, animals and even growing plants ! Karen Bakker's book takes us on an amazing journey, exploring how cutting edge technologies - think sensors, satellites and artificial intelligence - give us the amazing power to capture, analyze and understand the unheard voices of nature. The author has the not-so-common talent to mix great storytelling and rigorous academic research - the list of sources will be very useful for anyone who wants to continue this fantastic discovery. Overall, a pleasure to read. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2022 Reviewed in the United States on December 2, 2022 by BENOIT GEORGES
    • Hear, see, observe!
Format: Hardcover
A great book! Everyone should read it. It makes you understand how important flora and fauna are to our existence.
Reviewed in the United States on September 3, 2025 by Martine Stuckey
    • Listening
Format: Kindle
This is quite a technical read, at times, with very long chapters. That being said, it is informative and illustrative of the very real impact that bioacoustics can have on climate change. Also, this book promotes and increases empathy for our nonhuman partners on our one and only home, Planet Earth. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 23, 2022 by Susan E Dix
    • A fascinating and well-researched book! A fascinating and well-researched book!
Format: Hardcover
Review Image by David Gruber
Prof. Bakker's "The Sounds of Life" is a tour de force describing unique aspects of how humans have creatively used animal sound to better understand life on our planet --from plants to bats to turtles to elephants to whales! The book makes seemingly complex topics incredibly readable and has an extensive reference list, that I found helpful when diving even further into the book's stories. Prof. Bakker also includes Project CETI (Cetacean Translation Initiative), our non-profit and open source initiative that is using the technologies described in "The Sounds of Life" to listen to sperm whales and translate their communication. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2022 Reviewed in the United States on December 4, 2022 by David Gruber
    • Half of the book is Appendices !
Format: Kindle
There's a lot of fascinating and very unexpected material in this book; who would have expected that turtles would be so chatty, And plants of course, most of us have known for years that the plants are conscious beings, but they also talk !
Reviewed in the United States on August 23, 2023 by TinyWanda
    • Incredibly fascinating!
Format: Hardcover
Elephants with particular words for different threats, robot bees that *through dance* can lead the hive to new locations, and coral who swim through the ocean to find the sound of their home reef! A friendly warning: once you read this book, you'll find yourself telling everyone about it for the next several weeks. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on January 13, 2023 by Zooey
    • some fascinating material, but focuses on the process of discovery, not the discoveries themselves
Format: Kindle
There are many fascinating facts in this book which illustrate that: the use of sound in the animal AND plant world is more widespread than previous thought; that indigenous peoples were often aware of this before scientists made their “discoveries”; that progress in science often rests on progress in the technology that scientists use. From my point of view, however, the author concentrates too much on the process of discovery rather than what has been learned; perhaps what has been learned is still limited. For example, she mentions that elephants can use sound to discern human ethnicity, gender and age, but given their intelligence and the time spent studying their vocalizations, I would hope that much more is known about their language capabilities than is discussed in the book. Turtle hatchlings in the Amazon make sounds which their mother, waiting in the river, responds to and guides them to the river by sound, and then leads them to a safe place. Bowhead whales can be more accurately counted by sound than by sight as they can swim distances under ice; because of climate change the whales have been migrating north into the St Lawrence seaway – to protect them from boat traffic, Canada monitors their location by sound, and then issues speed cautions to boat, monitoring to insure the boats follow the cautions. Many fish larva can detect sounds emanating from coral reefs, and can distinguish healthy from dying reefs, choosing the healthy reefs to swim to. Plants can direct roots to flowing water by sound, distinguishing between the sound of water, and white noise made by experimenters in the same frequency. There is a major international project studying whale sounds, but it is known they have various uses; when a mother and calf communicate, they do it at low volume lest predators overhear. ... show more
Reviewed in the United States on August 9, 2023 by algo41
    • Profound
Format: Hardcover
This is an amazing book, easy to read and presenting the latest findings on conversations going on all around us by so many life forms. We are missing them because they are at frequencies we cannot hear, or are underwater.
Reviewed in the United States on January 12, 2023 by Ronnie Schenkein

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