Tom Rossing: Acoustics of Eastern and Western Bells, Old and New

Abstract: Bells of different types have played important roles in many cultures, past and present. We discuss the acoustics of church bells, carillon bells, handbells, and ornamental bells, large and small, along with methods used to study them including holographic interferometry and finite element methods. We discuss ancient two-tone bells from China and temple bells from China, Japan, and Korea.
BA, Luther College; MS and PhD (physics) Iowa State University. Areas of research: Musical acoustics, acoustics of musical instruments, psychoacoustics, condensed matter physics, magnetism, magnetic memories. Author of 17 books and over 400 scientific publications, 9 U.S. and 11 foreign patents, mainly in acoustics, magnetism, and condensed matter physics.

After 3 years of research on magnetic memories with UNIVAC, he became a professor of physics at St. Olaf College, where he remained until 1971. From 1971 until 2005 he was professor of physics at Northern Illinois University. Since retirement, he has been a visiting professor at Edinburgh University (Scotland), Seoul National University (Korea), and Stanford University (since 2005).

Fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the American Association for Advancement of Science, American Physical Society, and IEEE. Biography in New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians, Who’s Who in America.

Received the Gold Medal in Acoustics and the Silver Medal in Musical Acoustics (Acoustical Society of America); the Millikan medal (American Association of Physics Teachers); the Rayleigh Medal (Instituto Mexicano de Acustica).