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The sound of science

For nearly 30 years, a UA professor has been studying sound and music in his quest to make physics interesting to science and non-science majors alike.

William Bickel, a University of Arizona physics professor, is continuing his research into the science of sound with the goal of bringing people into the physics department who wouldn't otherwise be interested.

"My goal was to bring into the physics department people who might not take a physics course," Bickel said.

In a memorandum written to the College of Liberal Arts, Bickel outlined the value of his physics of music course.

He said that it was tailored to suit the non-science students, it covered the basic ideas of physics and sound, and it introduced students to the fundamentals of science and quantitative measurements largely by requiring them to pursue an extensive research project of interest to them.

Bickel said there was a period in which this class had low enrollment because he refused to "water and dumb-it down to be a gen-ed." Eventually he made it a 400-level course and enrollment increased once again.

Reflecting on that period, he said his class was a very positive thing, and it was unfortunate that the administration made it difficult for him to continue.

In Bickel's courses, students are presented with a wide array of knowledge. For example, students learn how to generate and make quantitative measurements of acoustical signals, what the basic theory of hearing is, how to test it and how basic musical instruments generate sound.

Bickel also sponsors many independent studies that are related to the science of sound. One of these projects demonstrated that many classrooms were acoustically unfit and Bickel went so far as to refuse to teach in those rooms until they were improved.

Other independent studies have included everything from studying the physics of the Highland bagpipe to a spectrum analysis of the cello to the acoustics of a hummingbird feather.

In addition to his course on experimental acoustics, he also teaches experimental spectroscopy and experimental optics.

In his lab, Bickel demonstrated the various aspects of studying music and sound. Using a simple piece of a horn, he demonstrated the roles that mathematics, mechanics, acoustics and musicality play in conducting research of this type.

In another lab, he produced a contorted bicycle wheel that a student had creatively - though unsuccessfully - tried to make into a harp. Nonetheless, he said he was quite pleased by the attempt.

"We don't need perfection, all we need is for you to learn something," Bickel said.

In his long career at the UA, Bickel has been named a university distinguished professor of physics.

"I worked hard and did a lot for the students and the university appreciated it," he said.

Physics department head Daniel Stein offered his praises for Bickel.

"He has spent a great deal of time with undergraduates training them for a future in physics or any career where analytical and critical thinking or hands-on skills are useful, which is a great many." Stein said. "Dr. Bickel is an outstanding teacher."

Bickel feels that his courses are both interesting and necessary.

"We're surrounded with sound all the time, why not understand it?" he asked.