Question

The following passage is adapted from an essay discussing the development of modern architectural acoustics.

Paragraph 1 (lines 1–12)
Historically, the design of public speaking and performance spaces was a matter of trial, error, and structural replication. Builders relying on classical proportions did not understand why some halls resonated beautifully while others swallowed sound. It was not until 1895, when Harvard University tasked a young physics assistant professor named Wallace Sabine with correcting the abysmal acoustics of the newly constructed Fogg Art Museum lecture room, that the field of architectural acoustics began to transition from a mystical craft into a quantifiable science. Sabine began a series of meticulous late-night experiments, moving seat cushions and rugs in and out of the empty lecture hall, timing how long a standard sound took to decay to inaudibility.

Paragraph 2 (lines 13–24)
By systematically altering the room's materials, Sabine defined the mathematical relationship between a room's volume, the total sound-absorbing quality of its surfaces, and its reverberation time. This discovery provided the first reliable metric for acoustic design. Rather than relying on traditional forms or visual symmetry, architects could finally calculate sound behavior before construction began. Sabine's work proved that acoustic quality was not a product of luck or architectural aesthetics, but a predictable physical phenomenon that could be controlled through the deliberate choice of materials.

Based on the passage, which of the following statements best expresses the primary point of Paragraph 2 (lines 13���24)?