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I was a music major in college, with emphasis on piano and clarinet, with the intent of becoming a high school band director. Because of my interest in physics, however, I took all of the courses in mathematics and physics offered by the College. In my senior year, I decided that I did not want to direct a marching band one-third of the time for the rest of my life, so I went to graduate school in physics.
My primary interest in graduate school was in cyclotron research and development. For my Master's thesis I carried out basic design work for a variable-energy multi-particle superconducting cyclotron. My Ph.D. work involved compiling a setup program which was used to set operating parameters for the original 45 MeV Michigan State University cyclotron. I also carried out design work for the cyclotron and performed a number of measurements of beam properties. After the cyclotron became operational, I was also involved in fabrication of germanium gamma-ray detectors, and used these detectors in on-line cyclotron experiments.
Another project in which I became involved at Michigan State was early design work on the University of Maryland 140 MeV multi-particle cyclotron. This led to my going to the University of Maryland after receiving my Ph.D. At Maryland I worked on several aspects of the cyclotron, but my primary responsibility was design and supervision of installation of the beam transport system. I also developed and fabricated charged-particle germanium and silicon detectors for use in cyclotron experiments. Since decommissioning of the Maryland cyclotron I have worked full time at the Physics Lecture-Demonstration Facility.
My primary responsibility in the Lecture-Demonstration Facility is developing and maintaining a collection of over 1500 demonstrations which are used in our physics classes, along with collections of related audio-visual materials and reference materials. In addition, we have developed a number of other programs based on the use of these demonstrations. Programs include our PHYSICS IS PHUN public lecture-demonstration series, traveling demonstration programs, a series of workshops for middle school science teachers, and a large number of other special programs for visitors to the University as well as student recruitment.
My interests in physics and music led to originating a course in Physics of Music in 1972, and concomitant development of a textbook for that course and a large collection of related demonstrations. The textbook, The Physics of Sound, by Richard E. Berg and David G. Stork, was originally published by Prentice-Hall in 1982, with the second edition published in 1995. Many of the demonstrations used in our Physics of Music course are included in a four-hour set of videotapes, Demonstrations in Acoustics, which is available from the University of Maryland Department of Physics. I also developed a laboratory for the Physics of Music course and wrote the manual for the lab.
Other interests include softball and, as time passes, gardening, which is a more sedentary athletic activity. I remain active in music, but my interests have shifted to the areas of Baroque and Renaissance music. I have played a variety of instruments in a number of early music groups, including harpsichord, recorders, violins, crumhorns, and other Renaissance woodwinds. More recently I have directed a small group which we call the "Go For Baroque" Ensemble, which performs small concerts for intimate groups in member's homes, much in the spirit of the original performance practice.
Look here for pictures of our back yard landscaping project.