THE DANGERS OF NOISE

Airplanes and rock music are the most offensive noise pollutants to Kavaler, who cites Tennessee studies showing hearing loss even among young people (and in ten out of fifteen rock musicians) and quotes a researcher there who blames it on the fact that ""many youngsters go shooting, ride motorcycles, listen to rock and roll."" That noise really can drive you crazy is suggested by psychiatrists' findings that a large number of the patients in a British mental hospital lived near a busy airport, and its effect on animals acknowledged when a mink breeder in England was awarded several thousand dollars because high-speed planes had turned his minks into ""nervous wrecks."" Even plants, according to some reports, seem to be disturbed by rock music and correspondingly soothed by Indian temple music and sonatas. The Noise Control Act of 1972 doesn't seem to have made much difference but, says Kavaler, people should help the EPA enforce it by making a noise about noise. Complete with an early, easy explanation of the decibel system, sound waves, and the construction of the ear, that's about it--an all-purpose, undemanding overview, a bit soft in spots compared to Grey's more advanced Noise Noise Noise (1976), but never shrill.