[The century of noise].

When did, actually, "noise pollution" begin to coexist along with our daily life and activities and change our environmental natural sounds, which hadn't changed for centuries? Industrial revolution, first, and the introduction of new technologies later, introduced "noise" as one of the most relevant features that marked the development of progress. Later on, it became the distinctive characteristic of the XX century. The incessant rumble of industrial machinery, of weapons and cannons from the wars, the roar of cars in the streets and aeroplanes from the sky, the deafening sound of XX century music, as well as the shouting out of new political ideas suddenly invaded the new century. They became part of our daily life so much as almost to become a new lay religion of modernity. As the century proceeded towards economic boom, a "new noisy Man" complied with this change, becoming the anthropologic prototype who was able to adapt to the new style of life and even contribute to its expansion. All this finally allows, to day, a definition of the XX century as the "century of noise".

PMID: 22073664