The database “Sound & Science: Digital Histories” is the first large online database for the history of acoustics.
The database provides access to difficult-to-find sources in the history of acoustics. It serves as a platform for multimedia essays by linking texts, images, sound recordings, and film documentaries of reenactments of acoustic experiments. The source material is presented through curated categories, while an extensible tagging system facilitates research navigation and identifies construction materials, concepts, personal networks, and timelines in the history of acoustics. The print publications of research scholars can be linked back to the database using QR codes.
The database is largely based on the work of members of the research group “Epistemes of Modern Acoustics” at the Max Planck Institute for the History of Science. We welcome contributions from other scholars in the fields of sound studies, history of science, and audio conservation.