Rossing Thomas Dean, *27 March 1929 Madison (South Dakota), †21 January 2022 West Lafayette (Indiana), American physicist. In 1952, he completed his bachelor’s degree at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa, and in 1954, he completed his master’s degree at Iowa State University in Ames; in 1954, he obtained his doctorate at the same university. From 1957 to 1970, he was a professor of physics at St. Olaf College in Northfield, Minnesota, and from 1971 at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, Illinois, where he worked until his retirement in 2005. From 2005 to 2019, he was a visiting professor at the Center for Computer Research in Music and Acoustics at Stanford University in Palo Alto, California. He also conducted research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge (1963 and 1976–78), Kungliga Tekniska Högskolan in Stockholm (1983–85), and Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt in Braunschweig (1988–89). Rossing was a fellow of the Acoustical Society of America, the American Physical Society, and the American Society for the Advancement of Science, as well as an honorary member of the Acoustical Society of India; in 1991–92, he was president of the American Association of Physics Teachers. In recognition of his scientific achievements, he was awarded the Silver Medal of the Acoustical Society of America in the field of musical acoustics (1992) and the Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America (2009). He was also awarded the Robert Millikan Medal by the American Association of Physics Teachers in 2000 for his contributions to education. Rossing was the author of 20 patents and over 400 publications, including 15 books. Since 1971, nearly 200 of his works have been devoted to musical acoustics, primarily the acoustics of musical instruments. Among Rossing’s most significant scientific achievements are his detailed studies on the vibrational modes and sound radiation of plates, membranes, and bars that serve as the vibrating elements of musical instruments, both those of Western music and those of Asian and African traditions, including various folk instruments from different cultures. In addition to his research in acoustics, he pursued studies in other branches of physics, such as magnetism and solid-state physics, and was notably active in the popularization of scientific knowledge.
Works on musical acoustics:
The Science of Sound, Reading (Massachusetts) 1982, 2nd ed. 1990, 3rd ed. with F.R. Moore and P.A. Wheeler, 2002
Auditory Demonstrations, with A.J.M. Houtsma and W.M. Wagenaars, Eindhoven 1987 (with accompanying CD)
Physics of Musical Instruments, with N.H. Fletcher, New York 1991, 2nd ed. 1998
Science of Percussion Instruments, Singapore 2000
articles in “Journal of the Acoustical Society of America”: Modes of Vibration and Sound Radiation from Tuned Handbells, with J. Sathoff, 68, 1980, Nonlinear Vibrations in Plates and Gongs, with N.H. Fletcher, 73, 1983, Effects of Air Loading on Timpani Mode Vibrations, with R.S. Christian, R.E. Davis and A. Tubis, 76, 1984, Vibration Modes of a Tuned Handbell, with R. Perrin, H.J. Sathoff and R.W. Paterson, 76, 1984, Acoustic Comparison of Voice Use in Solo and Choir Singing, with J. Sundberg and S. Ternström, 79, 1986, Acoustic Comparison of Soprano Solo and Choir Singing, with J. Sundberg and S. Ternström, 79, 1986, Vibration Modes of Chinese Two-Tone Bells, with D.S. Hampton, B.E. Richardson and H.J. Sathoff and A. Lehr, 83, 1988, The Science of Singing Voice, with J. Sundberg, 87, 1990, Vibrational Modes of a Noncircular Bell with a Church Bell Profile, with H. Brelay, 90, 1991, Acoustics of Snare Drums, with I. Bork, H. Zhao and D.O. Fystrom, 92, 1992, Modal Analysis of a Korean Bell, with A. Perrier, 94, 1993, Acoustics of the Glass Harmonica, 95, 1994, Lord Rayleigh’s Contributions to Musical Acoustics, 98, 1995, Transient Wave Response of a Cymbal Using Double-Pulsed TV Holography, with S. Schedin and P.O. Gren, 103, 1998, Normal Modes of Radially Braced Guitar Determined by Electronic TV Holography, with G. Eban, 106, 1999, Vibrational Mode Shapes in Caribbean Steelpans. I. Tenor and Double Second, with U. Hansen and D.S. Hampton, 108, 2000, Reed Vibration in Lingual Organ Pipes without the Resonators, with A. Miklós, J. Angster and S. Pitsch, 113, 2003, Sound Radiation from Caribbean Steelpans, with B. Copeland and A. Morrison, 117, 2005, Interaction of Reed and Resonator by Sound Generation in Reed Organ Pipe, with A. Miklós, J. Angster and S. Pitsch, 119, 2006, Geometrical Effects on the Tuning of Chinese and Korean Stone Chimes, with J. Yoo, 120, 2006,
Acoustics of Bells, with R. Perrin, “Applied Acoustics” 20, 1987
Acoustics of Percussion Instruments. I. Chimes and Bells and Acoustics of Tuned Bars, “The Instrumentalist” 30 and 31, 1976
Acoustics of a Tamtam, with N.H. Fletcher, “Bulletin of the Australian Acoustical Society” 10, 1982
Acoustics of Indian Drums, with W.A. Sykesem and Acoustics of Gamelan Instruments, with R.B. Sheperd, “Percussive Notes” 19, 1982
La Physique de Timbales, “Pour la Science” 43, 1983
L’Acoustique de Gong, “La Recherche” 22, 1991
Acoustics of Drums, “Physics Today” 45, 1992
On the Acoustics of Tuning Forks, with D.A. Russel and D.E. Brown, “American Journal of Physics” 40, 1992
The Acoustics of the Gong, “World Scientist” 16, 1992
Music from Oil Drums. The Acoustics of the Steel Pan, with D.S. Hampton and V.J. Hansen, “Physics Today” 49, 1996
Testing the Nonlinearity of Piano Hammers, with D. Russel, “Acta Acustica” 84, 1998
Normal Modes of Vibration in Violins, with M. Roberts and Normal Modes of Vibration in Mandolins, with D. Cohen, “Journal of the Catgut Acoustical Society” 3, 1998 and 4, 2000
Physics of Guitars. An Introduction, “Journal of Guitar Acoustics” 4, 1981
Physics for Musicians and Normal Models of a Compound String, “American Journal of Physics” 39, 1971 and 43, 1975
Editions:
Acoustics of Bells, Stroundsburg (Pennsylvania) 1984
Acoustics of Piano. A Bibliography, with J. Greenfield, “Piano Technology Journal” 28, 1985
Musical Acoustics. Selected Reprints, College Park (Maryland) 1988
Springer Handbook of Acoustics, New York, 2007
The Science of String Instruments, New York, 2010
