This is a working table developed to help plan the handling of the subfields of acoustics in the main article on acoustics that is about to be revised. Other tables and discussions follow. Adrian Pollock (talk) 04:27, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Subfield Status Google refs 13 ASA Tech Comm's 18 PACS (AIP) Classes
Acoustic(al) measurements and instrumentation 35 lines, diagrams, good but rather short, sketchy 22600 (80700) and 1100 (49000) Part of engineering acoustics 43.58.-e
Acoustic signal processing 35 lines, good but rather short, sketchy 67600 Signal processing in acoustics; part of engineering acoustics 43.60.-c
Aeroacoustics 85 lines, very good, equations 73600 (Noise) 43.28.-g "and atmospheric acoustics"
Architectural acoustics 65 lines, good except lack of references 80300 Architectural acoustics 43.55.-h
Bioacoustics 120 lines, very good, diagrams, links, references 166000 Animal bioacoustics 43.80.-n
Biomedical acoustics Biomedical ultrasound / bioresponse to vibration 2540 Biomedical ultrasound, part of physical acoustics Merge into:

Ultrasonics for 43.35.Wa bioreponse to vibration
Bioacoustics for 41.80.Qf, Sh, Vj medical acoustics

Environmental acoustics 21800 Noise 43.50.-x "Noise, its effects and control"
Musical acoustics 140 lines, very good, 9 sections, diagrams, links 45200 Musical acoustics 43.75.-z "Music and musical instruments"
Nonlinear Acoustics 25 lines, marked as needing expert attention, very sketchy 24800 Part of physical acoustics 43.25.-x
Physical acoustics 57700 Physical acoustics 43.20.-f "General linear acoustics"
Physiological acoustics 11200 Psychological and physiological acoustics 43.64.-q
Psychoacoustics 160 lines, very good, 11 sections, links, references 216000 Psychological and physiological acoustics 43.66.-x
Speech communication 30-line stub identified as such. OK start, needs more. 565000 Speech communication 43.70.-h (production)

43.71.-k (perception)
43.72.-p (processing and communication systems)

Structural acoustics and vibration 23600 and 27400000 Structural acoustics and vibration 43.40.-r
Transduction The link is to a disambiguation page that does not include "our" meaning 4100000 Transducers are part of engineering acoustics 43.38.-p (with words)
Ultrasonics 25 lines by a knowledgable person but there's a semantic issue here 915000 Part of physical acoustics; "Ultrasound" is part of engineering acoustics 43.55.-c "...quantum acoustics and physical effects of sound"
Underwater acoustics 200 lines, very good, authoritative, many sections,

42 references and 12 external links

79800 Underwater acoustics; acoustical oceanography; part of engineering acoustics 43.30.-k "Underwater sound"
Engineering acoustics

This table edition 68.83.145.51 (talk) 05:46, 9 January 2008 (UTC)


This is a working copy from the existing main article on acoustics: The following are the main sub-disciplines of acoustics:[1]

END OF WORKING COPY FROM MAIN ARTICLE

NOTE: the listed categories in the Wikipedia article are (still) an almost exact match to the PACS categories. The PACS reference is quite comprehensive and very valuable for us. There are just s few minor alterations to titles, and the addition of "biomedical acoustics", an anomalously small field that can be easily merged out. The ASA committee categories are gratifyingly similar to these numbered publication-oriented categories. We have to watch out for "physical acoustics", a much used phrase but one which PACS apparently avoided, dividing its traditional content among general linear, non linear, etc. etc. 68.83.145.51 (talk) 05:46, 9 January 2008 (UTC)


Joe, I've edited your table to contain the PACS categories and only the PACS categories. I think this makes a good overview. As an added bonus, here's a use for the phrase "physical acoustics" that was a problem before. It becomes a column head along with "biological acoustics" and "acoustical engineering" (? engineering acoustics).

I've also put into a table, for our planning convenience, the other categories you had named and also several other Wikipedia articles I have been coming across on acoustics subjects. How about this for a groundrule for the two of us to aim to implement: if there's a Wikipedia article on it and if it's part of acoustics, let's link to it from the main article. Who knows this may be a regular Wiki guideline anyway. We will need several different lists and/or tables within our main article, not just one, to get this done.

Thus our article offers (1) a birds-eye taxonomic overview, (2) a convenient reference point to ALL Wikipedia articles in the acoustics field (or perhaps we should draw the line somewhere, not list every tiny article on every specialized topic), (3) fundamentals and (4) history.

What say you ? Adrian Pollock (talk) 04:27, 10 January 2008 (UTC)


Physical acoustics Biological acoustics Acoustical engineering
  • Aeroacoustics
  • General linear acoustics
  • Nonlinear acoustics
  • Structural acoustics and vibration
  • Underwater sound
  • Bioacoustics
  • Music and musical instruments
  • Physiological acoustics
  • Psychoacoustics
  • Speech Communication (production;
    perception; processing and communication systems)
  • Acoustic measurements and instrumentstion
  • Acoustic signal processing
  • Architectural acoustics
  • Environmental acoustics
  • Transduction
  • Ultrasonics

Joe, I've posted the other categories you gave to the table below, and I am also starting to add to this table any other acoustical articles I come across in Wikipedia. There could be lots more added to this I don't doubt.Adrian Pollock (talk) 03:34, 10 January 2008 (UTC)

Suggested topic Is there an article ? Comment
Acoustic emission Yes, starter Isolated entry at bottom of present article
Acoustic wave equation Yes Overlaps with "wave equation". The latter is the better article.
Audiology Yes, ok One of Joe's
Computational acoustics No
Hydrophone Yes, short, lucid One of Joe's
Lamb waves Yes Adrian's
Loudspeaker Yes, long Some controversy over ongoing editing. One of Joe's
Medical ultrasonography Yes, good, overlap with ultrasound
Medical ultrasonics No, and no redirect Good ! based on what our authors say.
Medical ultrasound No, redirects to medical ultrasonography
Microphone Yes, excellent One of Joe's
Music recording No, redirects to Sound recording and reproduction (good)
Noise control Yes, ok, help sought Talk page discusses categories
Noise pollution Yes, quite short & crisp
Sonar Yes, long & strong One of Joe's (?)
Sound Yes, physics oriented References 10 short articles that describe individual points of technical detail
Sound recording and reproduction Yes, good
Ultrasonics Yes, claims ultrasonics as a trade term Distinguishes it from "ultrasound". Recognizes that others use it differently. Does not view it as a subfield of acoustics.
Ultrasound Yes, strong & broad w. emphasis on medical apps
Wave equation Yes Excellent, right to the point


Cause-effect_diagram_for_acoustics.jpg

  1. ^ "PACS". American Institute of Physics, Physics and Astronomy Classification Scheme.