52 PROCEEDINGS OF THE AMERICAN ACADEMY. 



the magnification to undue importance of scientifically interesting but 

 practically subordinate points. On the other hand there is the danger 

 that it may lead to a fragmentary presentation. An effort has been 

 made to guard against this, and the effort for completeness is the reason 

 for delay in the appearance of some of the papers. Sufficient progress 

 has been made, however, to justify the assertion that the physical side 

 of the problem is solvable, and that it should be possible ultimately 

 to calculate in advance of construction all the acoustical qualities of 

 an auditorium. 



Thus far it is a legitimate problem in physics, and as such a reason- 

 able one for the writer to undertake. 



The second part of the problem, now being started, the question 

 as to what constitutes good and what constitutes poor acoustics, what 

 effects are desirable in an auditorium designed for speaking, and 

 even more especially in one designed for music, is not a question in 

 physics. It is therefore not one for which the writer is especially quali- 

 fied, and would not be undertaken here were it not in the first place 

 absolutely necessary in order to give effect to the rest of the work, 

 and in the second place were it not the plan rather to gather and give 

 expression to the judgment of others acknowledged as qualified to 

 speak, than to give expression to the taste and judgment of one. It 

 is thus the purpose to seek expert judgment in regard to acoustical 

 effects, and if possible to present the results in a form available to 

 architects. This will be slow and difficult work, and it is not at all 

 certain that it will be possible to arrive, even ultimately, at a finished 

 product. It is worth undertaking, however, if the job as a whole is 

 worth undertaking, for without it the physical side of the investigation 

 will lose much of its practical value. Thus it is of little value to be 

 able to calculate in advance of construction and express in numerical 

 measure the acoustical quality which any planned auditorium will have, 

 unless one knows also in numerical measure the acoustical quality which 

 is desired. On the other hand, if the owner and the architect can agree 

 on the desired result, and if this is within the limits of possibility con- 

 sidering all the demands on the auditorium, of utility, architecture, 

 and engineering, this result can be secured with certainty, — at least 

 there need be no uncertainty as to whether it will or will not be 

 attained in the completed building. 



The papers following this introduction will be : " The Accuracy of 

 Musical Taste in regard to Architectural Acoustics," and " Variation 

 in Reverberation with Variation in Pitch." 



