Listen carefully. Sounds shape our world in invisible, yet always significant ways. From the Big Bang to absolute silence, from the echolocation of bats to Shostakovich's Symphony No. 11, by way of the crackling of a vinyl record, the crackling of the aurora borealis, or the long resonance of a Japanese bonsho, the forty-eight chapters of A Natural History of Sound invite us to listen to the fascinating world of sounds that surround us. With his prodigious scientific erudition and his unique sense of the marvelous, Caspar Henderson opens the door to little-known or inaccessible sonic spaces, more generally to the adventure of sounds, whether they belong to very ancient times, or remain the object of scientific speculationwhen they are not downright science fiction. From the sounds of space to the sounds of Earth and life, beginning with those of humanity, this masterful book will take you on a journey to the extreme limits of what is audible and will open your ears wide to better listen to the little-known and marvelous world of lands enchanted by sounds.