Natural History of Silence - Jérôme Sueur

Natural History of Silence

By: Jérôme Sueur, Helen Morrison (Translator)

Hardcover | 21 January 2025

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In our busy, noisy world, we may find ourselves longing for silence, but what is silence exactly? Is it the total absence of sound? Or is it the absence of the sound created by humans - the kind of deep stillness you might experience in a remote mountain landscape covered in snow, far away from the bustle of human life?

When we listen closely, silence reveals a neglected reality. Neither empty nor singular, silence is instead plentiful and multiple. In this book, eco-acoustic historian Jerome Sueur allows us to discover a vast landscape of silences which trigger the full gamut of our emotions: anxiety, awe and peace. He takes us from vistas resplendent with full and rich natural silences to the everyday silence of predators as they stalk their prey. To seek out silences in animal behaviour and ecology is also to discover a counterpoint to the acoustic diversity of the natural world and to throw into sharp relief the grating reverberations of the human activity which threatens it. It is to attune ourselves to a world that our human insensitivities have closed off to us, to take a moment simply to breathe and listen to the place of silence in nature.
Industry Reviews

"I read this wonderful book cover-to-cover in two sessions – the story, clarity of subject, and examples were so engaging. Through biophonic tapestries, Jerome Sueur sheds light on the enigmatic shades of sound and silences he encounters, bonding the circuits of science and lyricism in an eloquent and accessible narrative."
Bernie Krause, soundscape ecologist and author of The Great Animal Orchestra

"An assiduous listener to the beautiful sounds of nature, Jerome Sueur considers the value of a quieter world. Nothing is more necessary in these turbulent times. Read, and learn how better listening can save the world."
David Rothenberg, New Jersey Institute of Technology and author of Secret Sounds of Ponds 

“Anyone new to the science of sound will be able to learn its foundations in this book.”
Nature

“A lively and learned celebration of sonic environments.”
Kirkus Reviews

“Make no mistake: The quest for natural “silence” is an adventure. What’s being charted in Sueur’s book is the exploration of a final frontier.”
The Washington Post

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