THE HISTORICAL ORIGINS OF ROOM ACOUSTICS

It is about 200 years since interest awakened in knowledge of how sound waves propagate in closed spaces. The stimulus came from the acoustical problems which arose in the construction of large amphitheatres. This explains the fact that it was at first the architects responsible for constructing the theatres, who set about the task of determining practical rules for good acoustics in a room. Very many details on the origins of room acoustics can be found in the technical literature of the last century. Attention here is paid particularly on three works published in 1800, 1810 and 1894 respectively. Each of these books summarises the knowledge of its period, and one learns that the ground rule of room acoustics were known much earlier than is customarily believed.