April 28, 2011
Physics colloquium Monday on acoustics of violins
Kameshwar Wali of the department of physics at Syracuse University will present a colloquium for the K-State department of physics at 4:30 p.m. Monday, May 2, in 102 Cardwell Hall.
Wali will present "Cremona Violins; a Physicist's Quest for the Secrets of Stradivar."
Cremona violins occupy a unique and storied place in violin history. The talk will present a brief account of that history -- the rise and fall of the Cremonese art of violin making that dominated over two centuries. It will be primarily devoted, however, to the physics behind violin acoustics, specifically the research of William F. "Jack" Fry over the past several decades, chronicling gradual evolution in his ideas leading to a holistic approach in sharp contrast to the conventional reductionist approach. A brief video will demonstrate Fry's main points at the end.