The invention relates to a method of detecting and locating noise sources each emitting respective signals Sj with j=1 to M, detection being provided by means of sound wave or vibration sensors each delivering a respective time-varying electrical signal si with i in the range 1 to N. According to the invention, the method consists: in taking the time-varying electrical signals delivered by the sensors, each signal si(t) delivered by a sensor being the sum of the signals Sj emitted by the noise sources; in amplifying and filtering the time-varying electrical signals as taken; in digitizing the electrical signals; in calculating a functional; and in minimizing the functional relative to the vectors nj for j=1 to M so as to determine the directions vector nj of the noise sources.