"They say reporting can really open your eyes to an issue. But this was a totally different attunement—literally putting your ear to the ground," says William L. Hamilton, about penning "The World of Sound" (November 2012). Hamilton, a New York City-based reporter and writer, has worked for the New York Times as their senior design reporter, and now writes for the Wall Street Journal, The Architect's Newspaper, and other publications. He is the author of Alone Together (Boxed Books, Inc., 2007), with David Graham.