Abstract
IT is not often that a great explosion occurs near the centre of a populous area, and the recent disaster in East London thus offers an opportunity of adding to our knowledge on the transmission of soundwaves by the atmosphere. A brief summary may first be given here of the results obtained in recent investigations. The most remarkable result is the recognition of the fact that there exists sometimes, not always, a zone of silence which separates two detached sound^areas. This zone has been traced in twenty recent explosions (excluding that of Friday, January 19), two being due to gun-firing, four to explosions of dynamite or gunpowder, and the remainder to volcanic explosions in Japan.
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DAVISON, C. Sound-Areas of Great Explosions . Nature 98, 438–439 (1917). https://doi.org/10.1038/098438a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/098438a0