Schallreflexion (Echo)

The engraving features two diagrams of acoustic chambers carved into hillsides to demonstrate how sound waves reflect off surfaces. In the lower diagram, a man shouts the Latin word 'Clamor' into a series of chambers, which return progressively shorter echoes—'more', 'ore', and 're'—illustrating the linguistic and physical decay of sound. Lines radiate from the figures' mouths to show the path of the voice as it interacts with the architectural partitions.

Athanasius Kircher's study of 'phonurgia' (the science of sound) was central to his belief in a 'Universal Music' where natural laws mirrored a divine, harmonic order. This image represents the transition from Renaissance natural magic to Baroque experimental science, where the 'miracle' of the echo is explained through geometry and mechanical design.