Smells and Bells

         There were two quotes that really resonated with me from Ackerman's section of sound and hearing. Both of them were about how children and mothers are connected by sound. The first being "Mother and child are connected by an umbilical cord of sound." This really resonated with me because when I was growing  I would really like a song my parents played. They would attribute it to the fact that they played the song for me through headphones while my mother was pregnant. Not only were my first experiences of this world defined by my mothers quiet swish of her blood circulating and the steady drum of her heart; but also included musical selections from Incubus, pink Floyd, Dave Mathews band and the like. I obviously don't remember what being in the womb sounded like but I often think about what it must have been like. I imagine it to sound like an ocean tide crashing against the shore in strong rhythmic beats.           ...

In Diane Ackerman's description of sound she says that sound is air molecules that move in waves that begin with the movement of any object. These waves enter the outer ear which is like a funnel and vibrates the eardrum, the hammer, anvil and stirrup bones (the tiniest bones in the human body) which press fluid in the inner ear triggering the cochlea hairs which signal nerves. However, there is one misconception present very early on in this explanation. Sound does not simply travel in waves . Instead sound travels in spheres . Scientist John Stewart Reid was the first to officially introduce this new understanding of sound. Here is an excerpt from his writing on the subject: " Sound in air is the transfer of periodic movements between adjacent colliding atoms or molecules. This sonic energy typically expands away from the site of the collisions as a spherical or bubble-shaped emanation, the surface of which is in a state of radial oscillation. The sonic bubble expands ...

Diane Ackerman brought to light a fascinating observation that I have never encountered before in her Natural History of the Senses. She shared that the ocean is inside of us. This idea really resonated with me. She begins by sharing that "Our sense of smell, like many of our other body functions, is a throwback to that time, early in evolution when we thrived in the oceans"(pg. 20). The blood in our veins, which mirror the tides in their pulsing is mainly salt water. Ackerman explains that "we are small marine environments on the move, with salt in our blood, our urine, our flesh, our tears" (149).  To  smell , an odor must dissolve into a watery solution before our mucous membranes can absorb it. The  smell  of the vagina has a history of being reported to smell fishy. Sponges a sea creature have a profound sense of touch that allows them to feel every quiver in the water. Our need for touch is first developed in the moving waters of womb w...