You Are What You Hear: How Music and Territory Make Us Who We Are - Softcover

Witchel, Harry

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0875868045 ISBN 13: 9780875868042

Publisher: Algora Publishing, 2011

Synopsis

"

Pondering the musicality of everything from bird songs to the language he calls "motherese," Dr. Witchel illustrates the power of music and addresses the questions: 

• Why do we have music?
• What does music do to our emotions?
• Can animals hear and understand music?
• What does music do to your brain?
• Why do people listen to sad music?
• Why do some people like classical but others only like heavy metal?
• Is there some essential feature to all music?

You Are What You Hear is an erudite and entertaining study that is unique in many ways.  No other book has thoroughly elaborated the connection between music and social territory in humans, although in other music-making species scientists have shown this connection to be clear-cut. Given the wealth of scientific evidence and historical narratives presented in You Are What You Hear, an intellectual investigation of this avenue is long overdue. Written by a psychobiologist, the work straddles hard science and psychology, approaching music from a unique interdisciplinary perspective. Successfully bridging these strands of evidence, You Are What You Hear elucidates the significance of territory not only in music but in daily life. This lively and engaging book will have a broad appeal — not only to the general public, but to students interested in the relationship between music and culture. Anyone from seventeen to ninety-seven will have the potential to gain something from this book.

"

About this title

About the Author

Award-winning scientist and television commentator Dr. Harry Witchel regularly appears on BBC Television, BBC Radio, and internationally on USA Discovery Channel, and radio stations throughout Europe. His writings have in appeared in national publications ranging from The Financial Times to the Times Higher Educational Supplement. Dr. Witchel is a Senior Lecturer and The Discipline Leader in Physiology at the Brighton and Sussex Medical School (UK). He received his PhD in Physiology-Anatomy from the University of California at Berkeley, and a Bachelor's degree in Physics from Columbia University in New York. His Psychobiology Consulting company's client list includes Nike, Honda, Nokia, Boehringer Ingelheim, as well as international investment consultancies and law firms. Dr. Witchel's lectures on music and the mind have been presented at the Cambridge Summer Music Festival, the Cheltenham Festival of Science, the Institute of Education (London), the Functional Imaging Laboratories at University College London, the Royal College of Surgeons (Ireland), and the British Neuroscience Association. In 2004 he received the national honor of being awarded The Charles Darwin Award Lecture by the British Science Association.

Edition details

• Publisher: Algora Publishing
• Publication date: 2011
• ISBN 10: 0875868045
• ISBN 13: 9780875868042
• Binding: Paperback
• Language: English
• Number of pages: 232