Page 8 - Spring 2015

from the editor | Arthur N. Popper
This issue of Acoustics Today salutes two very distinguished members of our discipline. In honor of his 100th birthday (which was March 6, 2015), we have a biography of Per Brüel,
truly a pioneer in acoustics and a name that virtually anyone in our field knows and respects. I recall, as a young investi- gator, purchasing my first B&K equipment, some of which I still have and value. I also recall wondering why all B&K instruments are light green in color, and the article gives the answer. (Sadly, however, between the time we received this article and its publication, Dr. Brüel passed away.)
The article is by Professor Leif Bjørnø, a friend and colleague of Dr. Brüel’s and an internationally renowned acoustician in his own right. I mention this because one of the added benefits of being editor of AT, I’ve discovered, is getting to meet and interact with colleagues who I did not know but who are really interesting people. Dr. Bjørnø was particular- ly enjoyable to work with and we discovered mutual friends.
The second person covered in this issue is Dr. Allan Pierce. As the article by Jerry Ginsberg and Peter Rogers (both of whom Allan helped recruit to Georgia Tech) points out, ev- eryone in the Acoustical Society of America (and probably everyone in any aspect of acoustics) knows, or knows about, Allan. And numerous people (including myself) have ben- efitted from Allan’s mentorship, wisdom, and insights. But, like myself, few of us know the “real” Allan Pierce, and this wonderful article gives great insight into Allan’s contribu- tions as a consummate acoustician, educator, mentor, and leader.
While I met Dr. Bjørnø through the article in AT, I’ve known Peter Rogers for many years and we have collaborated in re- search and enjoying fine restaurants. A number of years ago, we discovered that we come from the same part of New York City, and we overlapped at George Washington High School (though I won’t say which years!) and had many of the same friends. We did not know one another at GW because we were a year apart and the school was, back then, the largest high school in NYC.
Coincidently, this issue of Acoustics Today features a num- ber of articles about sound propagation. The article by Pete
Rogers and Domenic J. Maglieri arose during dinner when Pete and I debated the exact route of the No. 1 subway train in very far uptown Manhattan (I won!). During dinner, Pete told me the story of work he had done decades ago on sound propagation from the commercial supersonic airplane, the Concorde. I found the description so interesting and com- pelling that I insisted that Pete do an article for AT. Pete is joined in this article by Domenic J. Maglieri, one of the pio- neers in sound propagation from supersonic aircraft.
A second article, which in a way is related to the first, is by Keith Wilson, Chris Pettit, and Vladimir Ostashev on sound propagation in air. Although the paper does not discuss the biological implications of the work it describes, I could not help but think about how the material discussed impacts animal communication and the effects of noise on animals and how it also provokes thinking about underwater acous- tic propagation, a topic in which I am particularly interested.
Somewhat related is an article on sound emission from in- water pile driving (full disclosure: I am coauthor on this pa- per). The paper was first given by Peter Dahl at the May 2014 meeting of ASA in Providence, RI, where he had been invit- ed to present as one of the “Hot Topics in Acoustics” papers.
Although not on sound propagation but on sound recep- tion, a paper contributed by Matthew Goupell is on cochlear implants. This article also arose at the Providence meeting where Matt received the R. Bruce Lindsay Award, which is given annually to investigators under the age of 35. Interest- ingly, two other authors in this issue of AT (Rogers and Wil- son) are also past recipients of this prestigious award.
Finally, this issue has a fascinating article on Bayesian analy- sis and its applications to acoustics by Ning Xiang and Cam- eron Fackler. This is a topic about which I knew nothing at all when Ning proposed it for AT. I am delighted that Ning made the suggestion because the authors provide an article that presents a broad understanding of the topic that is high- ly approachable and should be very valuable to colleagues in most any aspect of acoustics.
AT Intern
I am pleased to announce that Andrew "Pi" Pyzdek joined us as the 2nd Acoustics Today Intern on March 1, 2015. An- drew is a PhD candidate in the Penn State Graduate Pro-
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6 | Acoustics Today | Spring 2015