The need for an English edition of these lectures has provided the original
author, Michel Bruneau, with the opportunity to complete the text with the
contribution of the translator, Thomas Scelo.
This book is intended for researchers, engineers, and, more generally,
postgraduate readers in any subject pertaining to “physics” in the wider sense of the
term. It aims to provide the basic knowledge necessary to study scientific and
technical literature in the field of acoustics, while at the same time presenting the
wider applications of interest in acoustic engineering. The design of the book is such
that it should be reasonably easy to understand without the need to refer to other
works. On the whole, the contents are restricted to acoustics in fluid media, and the
methods presented are mainly of an analytical nature. Nevertheless, some other
topics are developed succinctly, one example being that whereas numerical methods
for resolution of integral equations and propagation in condensed matter are not
covered, integral equations (and some associated complex but limiting expressions),
notions of stress and strain, and propagation in thick solid walls are discussed
briefly, which should prove to be a considerable help for the study of those fields
not covered extensively in this book.