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Person

Joseph Nagyvary

A man with gray hair and glasses holds a violin, dressed in a dark blue shirt against a dark background.

Biochemist at Texas A&M University and amateur violin maker, who from the 1970s argued that the distinctive sound of Cremonese instruments came from chemical treatment of the wood before carving. His 2006 Nature note and later spectroscopic work identified borate, fluoride and metallic salts in Stradivari and Guarneri soundboards. The interpretation — preservative, accident, or acoustic intent — is still disputed.

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