Book excerpt: This book has grown out of the research activities of the author in the fields of sound propagation in porous media and modelling of acoustic materials. It is assumed that the reader has a background of advanced calculus, including an introduction to differential equations, complex variables and matrix algebra. A prior exposure to theory of elasticity would be advantageous. Chapters 1-3 deal with sound propagation of plane waves in solids and fluids, and the topics of acoustic impedance and reflection coefficient are given a large emphasis. The topic of flow resistivity is presented in Chapter 2. Chapter 4 deals with sound propagation in porous materials having cylindrical pores. The topics of effective density, and of tortuosity, are presented. The thermal exchanges between the frame and the fluid, and the behaviour of the bulk modulus of the fluid, are described in this simple context. Chapter 5 is concerned with sound propagation in other porous materials, and the recent notions of characteristic dimensions, which describe thermal exchanges and the viscous forces at high frequencies, are introduced. In Chapter 6, the case of porous media having an elastic frame is considered in the context of Biot theory, where new topics described in Chapter 5 have been included.