Acoustics

Acoustics is the interdisciplinary science that deals with the study of sound, ultrasound and infrasound. A scientist who works in the field of acoustics is an acoustician. The application of acoustics in technology is called acoustical engineering. There is often much overlap and interaction between the interests of acousticians and acoustical engineers. Hearing is one of the most crucial means of survival in the animal world, and speech is one of the most distinctive characteristics of human development and culture. So it is no surprise that the science of acoustics spreads across so many facets of our society - music, medicine, architecture, industrial production, warfare and more. Art, craft, science and technology have provoked one another to advance the whole, as in many other fields of knowledge. The word "acoustic" is derived from the Greek word akoustikos, meaning "of or for hearing, ready to hear" and that from akoustos, "heard, audible", which in turn derives from the verb akouo, "I hear". The Latin synonym is "sonic".