Germany


Book Description

On October 3 1990 Germany's unification brought together a people separated for more than four decades by the division of Europe into hostile blocs, in the aftermath of World War II. This study attempts to review Germany's history and treat, in a concise and objective manner, its dominant social, poltical, economic and military aspects.




Optical Media


Book Description

Friedrich Kittler’s lecture series provides a concise history of optical media from Renaissance linear perspective to late twentieth-century computer graphics. He begins by looking at European painting since the Renaissance in order to discern the principles according to which modern optical perception was organised. Kittler also discusses the development of various mechanical devices, like the camera obscura and the laterna magica, which were closely connected to the printing press and which played a pivotal role in the media war between the Reformation and the Counterreformation. After examining this history, Kittler then addresses the ways in which images were first stored and made to move through the development of photography and film. Kittler discusses the competitive relationship between photography and painting as well as between film and theater, as innovations like the Baroque proscenium or “picture-frame” stage evolved from elements that would later constitute cinema. The central question, however, is the impact of film on the ancient monopoly of writing, as it not only provoked new forms of competition for novelists but also fundamentally altered the status of books. In the final section, Kittler examines the development of electrical telecommunications and electronic image processing from television to computer simulations. In short, these lectures provide a comprehensive introduction to the history of image production, which is indispensable for anyone wishing to understand the prevailing audiovisual conditions of contemporary culture.




Modern Times


Book Description

Originally published in 1983 and named one of the Best Books of the Year by The New York Times, this bestselling history is now revised and updated and includes a new final chapter. A far-reaching and masterful work, it explores the events, ideas, and personalities of the seven decades since the First World War.




The History of the Viola


Book Description




Preserving Survivors Memories


Book Description

Due to the generation shift, the central challenge has become to preserve the memories of the survivors of National Socialist persecution and to anchor these within 21st century cultural memory. In this transition phase, which includes rapid technical developments within information and communications technology, high expectations are being made of the collections of survivors audio and video interviews. This publication reflects the interdisciplinary debates currently taking place on the various digital techniques of preserving eyewitness interviews. The focus is how the changes in media technology are affecting the various fields of work, which include storage/archiving, education as well as the reception of the interviews.







Networks of Modernity


Book Description

This is an open access title available under the terms of a CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 International licence. It is free to read at Oxford Scholarship Online and offered as a free PDF download from OUP and selected open access locations. Networks of Modernity: Germany in the Age of the Telegraph, 1830-1880 offers a fresh perspective on the history of Germany by investigating the origins and impact of the 'communications revolution' that transformed state and society during the nineteenth century. It focuses upon the period 1830-1880, exploring the interactions between the many different actors who developed, administered, and used one of the most important technologies of the period-the electric telegraph. It reveals the channels through which scientific and technical knowledge circulated across Central Europe during the 1830s and 1840s, stimulating both collaboration and confrontation between the scientists, technicians, businessmen, and bureaucrats involved in bringing the telegraph to life. It highlights the technology's impact upon the conduct of trade, finance, news distribution, and government in the tumultuous decades that witnessed the 1848 revolutions, the wars of unification, and the establishment of the Kaiserreich in 1871. Following the telegraph lines themselves, it weaves together the changes which took place at a local, regional, national, and eventually global level, revisiting the technology's impact upon concepts of space and time, and highlighting the importance of this period in laying the foundations for Germany's experience of a profoundly ambiguous, networked modernity.




Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?


Book Description

How we experience space by listening: the concepts of aural architecture, with examples ranging from Gothic cathedrals to surround sound home theater. We experience spaces not only by seeing but also by listening. We can navigate a room in the dark, and "hear" the emptiness of a house without furniture. Our experience of music in a concert hall depends on whether we sit in the front row or under the balcony. The unique acoustics of religious spaces acquire symbolic meaning. Social relationships are strongly influenced by the way that space changes sound. In Spaces Speak, Are You Listening?, Barry Blesser and Linda-Ruth Salter examine auditory spatial awareness: experiencing space by attentive listening. Every environment has an aural architecture.The audible attributes of physical space have always contributed to the fabric of human culture, as demonstrated by prehistoric multimedia cave paintings, classical Greek open-air theaters, Gothic cathedrals, acoustic geography of French villages, modern music reproduction, and virtual spaces in home theaters. Auditory spatial awareness is a prism that reveals a culture's attitudes toward hearing and space. Some listeners can learn to "see" objects with their ears, but even without training, we can all hear spatial geometry such as an open door or low ceiling. Integrating contributions from a wide range of disciplines—including architecture, music, acoustics, evolution, anthropology, cognitive psychology, audio engineering, and many others—Spaces Speak, Are You Listening? establishes the concepts and language of aural architecture. These concepts provide an interdisciplinary guide for anyone interested in gaining a better understanding of how space enhances our well-being. Aural architecture is not the exclusive domain of specialists. Accidentally or intentionally, we all function as aural architects.




Architectural Acoustics


Book Description

Architectural Acoustics, Second Edition presents a thorough technical overview of the discipline, from basic concepts to specific design advice. Beginning with a brief history, it reviews the fundamentals of acoustics, human perception and reaction to sound, acoustic noise measurements, noise metrics, and environmental noise characterization. In-depth treatment is given to the theoretical principles and practical applications of wave acoustics, sound transmission, vibration and vibration isolation, and noise transmission in floors and mechanical systems. Chapters on specific design problems demonstrate how to apply the theory, including treatment of multifamily dwellings, office buildings, rooms for speech, rooms for music, multipurpose rooms, auditoriums, sanctuaries, studios, listening rooms, and the design of sound reinforcement systems. Detailed figures illustrate the practical applications of acoustic principles, showing how to implement design ideas in actual structures. This compendium of theoretical and practical design information brings the relevant concepts, equations, techniques, and specific design problems together in one place, including both fundamentals and more advanced material. Practicing engineers will find it an invaluable reference for their daily work, while advanced students will appreciate its rigorous treatment of the basic building blocks of acoustical theory. Considered the most complete resource in the field – includes basic fundamental relations, derived from first principles, and examples needed to solve real engineering problems. Provides a well-organized text for students first approaching the subject as well as a reliable reference for experienced practitioners looking to refresh their technical knowledge base. New content for developing professionals includes case studies and coverage of specific focus areas such as audio visual design, theaters, and concert halls.