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Professor Emeritus

Bo Lawergren

Bo L

Email: bolawer@icloud.com

Department of Physics, Hunter College of CUNY,
695 Park Avenue, New York, New York 10065

Employment
           Professor of Physics and Astronomy
           Hunter College of CUNY

           Senior Research Associate (Physics)
           Columbia University

           Research Fellow (Nuclear Physics)
           Atomic Energy Research Establishment

Education
            PhD, Australian National University, Canberra, Australia (Nuclear Physics)
            Filosofie kandidat, University of Uppsala, Sweden (Physics and Mathematics)

Honors

Fellowships at Wolfson College, Oxford (in 1976).  I spent every sabbatical at Oxford University, UK, and had a Fellowship at University College, Oxford (in 1998). I worked with Oliver R. Gurney, Professor of Assyriology at Oxford University, and P.R.S. Moorey, Keeper at The Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, and Lecturer in Archaeology at the University.

2005-6:  After retiring as Professor emeritus at Hunter College, I received a Mellon Emeritus Fellowship (about $50,000 given for outstanding scholars in the Humanities).

Scholarly Publications of Bo Lawergren (sole author unless otherwise indicated, only papers printed in scholarly journals are counted.

100. Music and Musical Ensembles During  the Chinese Tang Dynasty (618 to 907).  To be published by Early Music America (September 2021).  

99.Chinese zithers and harps, 2000 to 100 BC,” eds. Ursula Brosseder, Emma Bunker, Jenny F. So, and Bo Lawergren, Fall 2021. A comprehensive catalog to be published by the Abegg Stiftung, Riggisberg, Switzerland.

98.Provenience of Qin Tuning Keys in China, ca. 400 – 100 BCE.2019, Ricardo Eichmann, Ellen Hickmann, Lars-Christian Koch (eds.), Studien zur Musikarchäologie IX, Orient-Archäologie 22 (Rahden).

97. My article "Sounds of the Ancient World: Harps Across Time and Space." was a chapter in the catalog "IDOLS, the Power of Images (Ed. Annie Caubet).  It was held in conjunction with an exhibition in Palazzo Loredan, Istituto Veneto di Science, Lettere ed arti, Campo Santo Stefano, 15 September 2018 - 20 January 2019.  Skira, Fondazione Giancarlo Ligabue.

96. "Music," a 20-page chapter in the book "The Elamite World," 2018: 781-800, Eds. J. Álvarez-Mon, G.P. Basello, and Y. Wicks, Routledge, London and New York.

95. "De tre första årtusenden av harpor," a paper read at the Nordic Harp Meeting, Järna, Sweden, Nov. 1, 2013.

94. Horizontal Angular Harps, an imported Instruments from Mesopotamia (Tell Asmar, early second millennium) from where it moved to China (during the first millennium BC). To be published by The University of Pennsylvania Press (Fall 2021) in the series Sino-Platonic Papers, ed. Victor H. Mair.  It will include the Ph.D. thesis (in Chinese) of He Zhiling, which deals with horizontal harps found in the Xinjiang region of China).

93. "Music," a 22-page chapter in The Cambridge History of China (Vol. 2, The Six Dynasties, anno 220-589), eds. Albert E. Dien and Keith N. Knapp, Cambridge University Press, 2019 (pp. 698-720).

92. Number 76 translated and republished in China.

91. "Musikarkeologi i Iran," pp. 21-26 in Iran, 4 000 år av historia, konst, religion, litteratur och språk, Ashk Dahlén och Carina Jahani (eds.), Uppsala, 2014.

90. "The Rebirth of the Angular Harp," Early Music America 17:2 (Summer 2011), pp. 26-31 and 61.

89. "Ancient Harps Near Dunhuang," pp. 117-124 in Neville Agnew (ed.), Conservation of Ancient Sites on the Silk Road: Second International Conference on the Conservation of Grotto Sites, Getty Conservation Institute (2010).

88. "Zhongguo Konghou de Fangfang Mianmian" ["Aspects of the Ancient Konghou," in Chinese], Yue Pingqiu (transl.), Yuefu Xinsheng [New Voices in the Musical Academy] 28: 3 (Sept 2010) 142-153.

87. "Aspekty starożytnej konghou" Biuletyn Polskiego Towarzystwa Harfowego, 17: 16-17 (December 2009).

86. "Aspekty starożytnej konghou" Biuletyn Polskiego Towarzystwa Harfowego, 16: 16-17 (August 2009).

85. "Aspekty starożytnej konghou" Biuletyn Polskiego Towarzystwa Harfowego, 15: 13-15 (April 2009).

84. "Aspekty starożytnej konghou" Biuletyn Polskiego Towarzystwa Harfowego, 14: 16-17 (December 2008).

83. "Bull Lyres, Silver Lyres, Silver Pipes, and Animals in Sumer, ca. 2500 BC, pp. 77-82 in ICONEA 1 (2008).

82. "Angular Harps Through the Ages; a Causal History," pp. 261-281 in Arnd Adje Both, Ricardo Eichmann, Ellen Hickmann, Lars-Christian Koch (eds.), Studien zur Musikarchäologie VI, Orient-Archäologie 22 (Rahden 2008).

81. "Qinshi: gongyuanqian 433 nian qianhou di qin" [= "History of the qin: before and after the year 433 BCE"], pp. 125-142 in Zhongming Huanyu (Wuhan 2008).

80. "Music on Japanese Raigō Images 700-1700 - and Chinese Influences," pp. 45-89 in Manuel Pedro Ferreira (ed.), Medieval Sacred Chant: from Japan to Portugal (Lisbon 2008).

79. "Iranian music, Pre-Islamic" (in Persian), Mahoor Music Quarterly 28 (2005) 39-57.

78. "Iranian music, 3000 B.C. to 1500 A.D.," Encyclopædia Iranica, ed. E. Yarshater (finished 2006).

77. "Neolithic Drums in China," pp. 109-127 in Studien zur Musik Archäologie V, eds. Eds. E. Hickmann, A.A. Both, and R. Eichmann. Deutsches Archäologisches Institut; Orient-Abteilung; Orient-Archäologie 20 (2006).

76. "Iconography of the Chinese Qin zither," Music in Art 32 (1-2), 47-63 (2007).

75. "Oxus trumpet," Encyclopædia Iranica, ed. E. Yarshater (2005).

74. "Etruscan Musical Culture and its Wider Greek and Italian Context," Etruscan Studies 10, 119-138 (2004-2007).

73. "Musical Instruments on the Silk Road: Their Musical and Societal Dynamics," pp. 99 - 115 in Sheen Dae-Cheol (ed.), The Music and Culture of the Silk Road (Seoul: Korean Musicological Society, 2005).

72. "How Qin-zithers changed between 500 BCE and 500 CE," pp. 295 - 310 in Studien zur Musik Archäologie IV, eds. E. Hickmann and R. Eichmann. Deutsches Archäologisches Institut; Orient- Abteilung; Orient-Archäologie 15 (2004).

71. "Sichou Zhi Lu Yueqi Kao" [in Chinese = "The Dynamics of Musical Instruments on the Ancient Silk Road"], Jiaoxiang [Journal of Xi'an Conservatory of Music, Xi'an] 2004.3, 49 - 54.

70. "The Acoustical Context of Oxus Trumpets," Proceedings of ISMA 2004 (International Symposium on Musical Acoustics), March 31st to April 3rd, 2004, in Nara, Japan. The symposium papers are given on CD-ROM [ISBN4-9980602-4-4], which can be purchased at http://www2.nict.go.jp/jt/a132/ISMA2004/proceedings.html.

69. "Bazeleike de gudai shuqin" [in Chinese, = "The Ancient Harp from Pazyryk"], Yinyue Yanjiu [Music Research, Journal of the People's Music Publishing House, Beijing] 113 (2004.2) 94 - 101.

68. "Western Influences on the Early Chinese Qin-Zither," Bulletin of the Museum of Far Eastern Antiquities 75, 79-109 (2003).

67. "Harp (čang)," Encyclopædia Iranica 12: 1 (2003) 7 - 13.

66. "Oxus Trumpets, ca. 2200 - 1800 BCE: Material Overview, Usage, Societal Role, and Catalog," Iranica Antiqua 38 (2003) 41 - 118.

65. "Metamorphosis of the Qin, 500 BCE - CE 500," Orientations 34 (May 2003) 31 - 38.

64. "Harps, Lutes and Music Along the Silk Road: A First Millennium Migration," pp. 52 - 55 in The Silk Road Project. Arts and Humanities Programs at Cal Performances, University of California, Berkeley, April 2002. Berkeley: Cal Performances, 2003.

63. "Les instruments à cordes chinois de 500 av. J.-C. à 500 apr. J.-C.," pp. 114-121 in Archéologie et musique; actes du colloque des 9 et 10 février 2001. Les cahiers du musée de la musique. Paris: Musée de la musique, 2002.

62. "Waisted Drums in Ancient China and Eurasia," pp. 115 - 120 in Annette L. Juliano and Judith A. Lerner (eds.), Nomads, Traders and Holy Men Along China's Silk Road; Papers presented at a symposium held at The Asia Society of New York, November 9 - 10, 2001. Turnhout: Brepols, 2002.

61. "An Introduction to Oxus Trumpets, ca. 2000 B.C.," pp. 519 - 525 in Studien zur Musik Archäologie III. Eds. E. Hickmann, A.D. Kilmer and R. Eichmann. Deutsches Archäologisches Institut; Orient- Abteilung; Orient-Archäologie 10. Rahden: Marie Leidorf, 2002.

60. "Harp (ancient)," pp. 881 - 888 & 894 - 896 in The New Grove Dictionary of Music and Musicians2 (= New Grove II), eds. S. Sadie and J. Tyrrell. London: Macmillan, 2001.

59. "Parthian empire," New Grove II, vol. 19 (2001) 172 - 173.

58.Lyre (ancient),” New Grove II, vol. 15 (2001) 421 – 424.

57.Iran (ancient),” New Grove II, vol. 12 (2001) 521 – 530. This article has also been translated into Persian and published in Mahoor Music Quarterly 28 (2005) 39-57.

56.Music,” pp. 450 – 454 in The Oxford Encyclopedia of Ancient Egypt, ed. D.B. Redford. New York: Oxford University Press, 2001.

55.A CycladicHarpist in The Metropolitan Museum of Art,” Source 19 (2000) 2 – 9.

54.Incongruous Musical Instruments on a Beaker of Alleged Assyrian Manufacture,” Source 19 (2000) 38– 42.

53.Strings,” pp. 65 – 85 in Music in the Age of Confucius, ed. Jenny F. So. Washington: Freer Gallery of Art and Arthur M. Sackler Gallery, Seattle/London: University of Washington Press, 2000.

52.Music in the Buddhist and Pre-Buddhist Worlds,” pp. 585 – 593 in History of Civilizations of Central Asia 4:2. The Age of Achievement: A.D. 750 to the End of the Fifteenth Century; The Achievements, eds. C.E. Bosworth and M.S. Asimov. Paris: UNESCO, 2000.

51.Extant Silver Pipes from Ur, 2450 BC,” pp. 121 – 132 in Studien zur Musik Archäologie II: Musikarchäologie früher Metallzeiten der Welt. Eds. E. Hickmann, I. Laufs, and R. Eichmann. Deutsches Archäologisches Institut; Orient-Abteilung; Orient-Archäologie 7. Rahden: Leidorf, 2000.

50.The Beginning and End of Angular Harps,” pp. 53 – 64 in Studien zur Musik Archäologie I: Saiteninstrumente im archäologischen Kontext, Eds. E. Hickmann and R. Eichmann. Deutsches Archäologisches Institut; Orient-Abteilung; Orient-Archäologie 6. Rahden, Leidorf, 2000.

49.Distinctions among Canaanite, Philistine, and Israelite Lyres, and their Global Lyrical Contexts,” Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 309 (1998) 41 – 68.

48.To Tune a String: Dichotomies and Diffusions between the Near and Far East,” pp. 175 – 192 in Ultra Terminum Vagari. Scritti in onore di Carl Nylander, eds. B. Magnusson, S. Renzetti, P. Vian, and S.J. Voicu. Rome: Edizioni Quasar, 1997.

47. "Harmonics of S-motion on Bowed Strings," pp. 177 - 182 in Research Papers in Violin Acoustics 1975 - 1993, ed. C.M. Hutchins (Woodbury: Acoustical Society of America & American Institute of Physics, 1996). Reprint from Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 73 (1983) 2174 - 2179 (no. 27 below).

46. "The Spread of Harps Between the Near and Far East During the First Millennium A.D.: Evidence of Buddhist Musical Cultures on the Silk Road," Silk Road Art and Archaeology 4 (1996) 233 - 275.

45. "Mesopotamien [archaeological]," pp. 143 - 171 in vol. 6 of Die Musik in Geschichte und Gegenwart (= MGG2), ed. L. Finscher. Kassel: Bärenreiter-Verlag & Stuttgart: Metzler Verlag, 1997.

44. "Leier," MGG2, vol. 5 (1996) 1011 - 1038.

43. "Harfe," MGG2, vol. 4 (1996) 39 - 62.

42. "Buddhismus," MGG2, vol. 2 (1995) 223 - 235.

41. "Buddha as a Musician," Artibus Asiae LIV (1994) 226 - 240.

40. "Counting Strings on Ancient Egyptian Chordophones," pp. 519-533 in La pluridisciplinarité en archeologie musicale, ed. C. Homo-Lechner and A. Bélis. Paris: Editions de la Maison des Sciences de l'Homme, 1994.

39. "Lyres in the West (Italy, Greece) and the East (Egypt, the Near East), ca. 2000 - 400 B.C.," Opuscula Romana XIX: 6 (1993) 55 - 76.

38. "The Ancient Harp of Pazyryk - a Bowed Instrument?" pp. 101-116 in Foundations of Empire, Archaeology and Art of the Eurasian Steppes, ed. G. Seaman. Los Angeles: University of Southern California Press, 1992.

37. "The Ancient Harp from Pazyryk," Beiträge zur allgemeinen und vergleichenden Archäologie 9/10 (1990) 111 - 118.

36. "The Role of Vertical disparity in the Scaling of Stereoscopic Depth Perception: An Empirical and Theoretical Study," B. Gillam, D. Chambers, and B. Lawergren, Perception & Psychophysics 44 (1988) 473 - 484.

35. "Ancient Mesopotamian Terminology of Harps and Sound Holes," O.R. Gurney and Bo Lawergren, pp. 175-187 in The Archaeology of Early Music Cultures, eds. E. Hickmann and D.W. Hughes, 175 - 187. Bonn: Verlag für systematische Musikwissenschaft GmbH, 1988.

34. "Il piacere dell'orecchio," Archeo 41 (July 1988).

33. "The Origins of Musical Instruments and Sounds," Anthropos 83 (1988) 31 - 45.

32. "Sound Holes and Geometrical Figures, Clues to the Terminology of Ancient Mesopotamian Harps," Bo Lawergren and O.R. Gurney. Iraq 49 (1987) 37 - 52.

31. "The Harp of the Ancient Altai People," pp. 163-177 in Proceedings of the Second Conference of the ICTM-Study Group on Music Archaeology, Stockholm (1984) I, ed. C. Stomberg-Lund. Stockholm: Royal Swedish Academy of Music, 1986.

30. "A lyre common to Etruria, Greece, and Anatolia: The Cylinder Kithara," Acta Musicologica 57 (1985) 25 - 33.

29. "The Cylinder Kithara in Etruria, Greece, and Anatolia," Imago Musicae 1 (1984) 147 - 174.

28. "The Induced Effect, Vertical Disparity, and Stereoscopic Theory," B.J. Gillam, and B. Lawergren.  Perception & Psychophysics 34 (1983) 121 - 130.

27. "Harmonics of S-motion on Bowed Strings," Journal of the Acoustical Society of America 73 (1983) 2174 - 2179.

26. "Acoustics of Musical Bows," Acustica 51 (1982) 63 - 65.

25. "Acoustics and Evolution of Arched Harps," The Galpin Society Journal 34 (1981) 110 - 129.

24. "Reconstruction of a Shoulder Harp in the British Museum," Journal of Egyptian Archaeology 66 (1980) 165 - 168.

23. "On the motion of the bowed violin string," Acustica 44 (1980) 194 - 206.

22. "A new and a rediscovered type of motion of the bowed violin string, or, how bowing position effects the shape and the sound of the string," The Catgut Acoustical Society Newsletter 30 (1978) 8 - 13.

21. "Regional intestinal absorptive capacities for triolein: an alternative to markers," Susanne Bennett Clark, Bo Lawergren and Jill V. Martin. American Journal of Physiology 225 (1973) 574 - 585.

20. "Gamma-ray spectra and cross sections for the capture of 14 MeV neutrons," Michael Stamatelatos, Bo Lawergren and Leon J. Lidofsky. Nuclear Science and Engineering 51 (1973) 113 - 118.

19. "Deformation trends among nuclei with 24 < A < 30: the (3He, p) and (3He, pγ) reactions on 24Mg, 26Mg, and 28Si," B. Lawergren and J. Beyea. Physical Review 6C (1972) 2082 - 2090.

18. "E2-M1 mixing in the γ-decay of the 1.37 MeV state in 28Al," Physical Review 6C (1972) 1691 - 1693.

17. "Nuclear structure effects in the γ-decay of isobaric analog states in Mg24, Al27, and Si28," B. Lawergren, I.J. Taylor, and M. Nessin. Physical Review 1C (1970) 994 - 999.

16. "K=1/2 and K=5/2 components in the ground state of 27Al," B.T. Lawergren, G.C. Neilson and J.L. Honsaker. Physics Letters 30B (1969) 470 - 472.

15. "The effect of the isospin selection rule on dipole transitions in 24Mg and 28Si," Nuclear Physics A111 (1968) 652 - 656.

14. "States with T=1 in 20Ne, 24Mg and 28Si," B.T. Lawergren, A.T.G. Ferguson and G.C. Morrison. Nuclear Physics A108 (1968) 325 - 336.

13. "Excitation of isobaric analogue states in the 27Al(d,n)28Si reaction," B. Lawergren, G.C. Morrison and A.T.G. Ferguson. Nuclear Physics 106 (1968) 455 - 463.

12. "A high resolution measurement of the 14C(d,n)15N reaction," B. Lawergren and I.V. Mitchell. Nuclear Physics A98 (1967) 481 - 488.

11. "The 2s1/2 component in the ground states of some nuclei in the 16 < A < 36 region," Physics Letters 24B (1967) 395 - 396.

10. "The spin of the 974 keV level in 28Al," Nuclear Physics A96 (1967) 49 - 51.

9. "The 26Mg(d,n)27Al reaction," Nuclear Physics A90 (1967) 311 - 320.

8. "An isobaric analogue state in Al27 and the role of configurational excitation," Physics Letters 13 (1964) 61 - 63.

7. "The low-lying levels of Al27 (II), the 3 MeV doublet levels," Nuclear Physics 53 (1964) 417 - 428.

6. "The low-lying levels of Al27 (I)," T.R. Ophel and B.T. Lawergren. Nuclear Physics 52 (1964) 417 - 436.

5. "The decay of Mg27."  T.R. Ophel and B.T. Lawergren. Physics Letters 6 (1963) 230 - 231.

4. "The 2.21 MeV level of Al27" B.T. Lawergren and T.R. Ophel. Physics Letters 2 (1962) 265.

3. "The 661 keV resonance of the 26Mg(p,γ) reaction." T.R. Ophel and B.T. Lawergren. Physics Letters 2 (1962) 167 - 168.

2. "The de-excitation of the 3 MeV doublet in 27Al." B.T. Lawergren and T.R. Ophel. Proceedings of the Physical Society 79 (1962) 881 - 882.

1. "The 721, 809 and 954 keV resonances of the 26Mg(p,γ) reaction," T.R. Ophel and B.T. Lawergren. Nuclear Physics 30 (1962) 215 - 226.

 

Book reviews

4. A Million Years of Music - The Emergence of Human Modernity, by Gary Tomlinson. New York: Zone Books (2015). Notes - The Quarterly Journal of the Music Library Library Association, Vol. 73:1, September 2016, 131-

3. Two Lyres from Ur, by Maude de Schauensee. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Museum of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2002. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 340 (2005) 81-82.

2. Music in Ancient Israel/Palestine: Archaeological, Written, and Comparative Sources, by Joachim Braun. Translated by Douglas W. Stott, from German. Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 2002. Bulletin of the American Schools of Oriental Research 332 (2003) 100 - 102.

1. The British Museum Yearbook 4: Music and Civilisation, ed. T.C. Mitchell. London: The British Museum, 1980. The Galpin Society Journal XXXV (1982) 164 - 169.

 

Record review

1. The Sounds of Prehistoric Scandinavia. Drevneishii muzikal'nii kompleks iz kostei mamonta. Musique de la Grèce antique. Ethnomusicogy 29 (1985) 360-363.