"It turns out that things that work very well are also very beautiful," Zygmuntowicz says. "It is sort of an ancient design concept that goes back to Pythagoras — that the universe is designed in ... an aesthetic, rational way. That still seems to hold up in the case of the violin."
Or not...
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/s...oryId=96786160
Reminds me of the recent basses thread featuring a Prescott that to some appeared crudely made. Does an instrument need to be symmetrical or pretty to sound good and play well? I think to some people it matters, to others not so much.
I think the term "hot-rodded" was used to relate to the radio audience that it was optimized, tricked out, thoroughly gone through piece by piece like a show car. Clearly there is scientific analysis going on and not just marketing hype, although I hear what you're saying, Jake. Yeah, it would be a lot more interesting article if they said a little about what they feel makes it an equal or better violin than a strad. Pretty pictures, but what are you learning from those spectra and running them through the MRI?
