Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley door pickup 10am - 7pm 3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611

  • Open Daily: 10am - 10pm
    Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm

    3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
    612-822-4611

Open Daily: 10am - 10pm | Alley-side Pickup: 10am - 7pm
3038 Hennepin Ave Minneapolis, MN
612-822-4611
Learning to Hear: The Auditory Bases of Excellence in Practicing Medicine, Climbing Mountains, Making Music, and Communicating in Morse Code

Learning to Hear: The Auditory Bases of Excellence in Practicing Medicine, Climbing Mountains, Making Music, and Communicating in Morse Code

Maslen, Sarah

Hardcover

General ReferenceGeneral Sociology

ISBN10: 0231217889
ISBN13: 9780231217880
Publisher: Columbia University Press
Published: Jul 8 2025
Pages: 280
Weight: 1.05
Height: 0.75 Width: 5.50 Depth: 8.50
Language: English

As we live our lives, hearing seems to be something that we simply have, not something that we do. Yet in a wide variety of occupations and activities, people must develop their hearing skills to achieve proficiency. How do people learn to hear?

This innovative book investigates strategies and techniques for honing hearing in medicine, music, outdoor adventuring, and Morse code operation. Sarah Maslen uncovers tricks of the trade and forms of communal assistance for crafting these largely unconscious practices. She shows that hearing is far more complex than is often assumed and that it depends on competencies that extend beyond the ear. In so doing, Maslen explodes myths of genius and natural talent and the idea that certain skills are the province of particular kinds of people. Overcoming the distance between insiders and outsiders requires access to the collective support that cultivates seemingly natural sense abilities.

Learning to Hear examines vivid and varied cases, such as how doctors listen for a heart murmur, how musicians build the skills to play along with others, how adventurers sense dangers like melting ice or falling rocks while climbing, and how telegraph operators develop a feel for Morse code. A deeply original exploration of the cultivation of hearing, this book offers a new approach to embodied experience.

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