Expert finds history in trees

By analyzing tree rings, a University of Tennessee professor unlocked the secret behind the greatness of a Stradivarius violin. This secret is one of the Weather Channel’s “100 Greatest Moments in Weather History.”

Henri Grissino-Mayer, associate professor of geography, said the superiority of a Stradivarius violin can be attributed to its wood. The wood used in the violins grew during the coldest period of the last 2,000 years, he explained.

The colder temperatures caused trees to grow slowly. The slow growth caused the wood to become denser than normal, and this increased density caused the wood to have superior tonal quality, he said.

“There is no secret,” Grissino-Mayer said of how Stradivari created his violins. “It wasn’t the secret ingredients in the varnish. It wasn’t that he seasoned the wood in a special way. It wasn’t any of those old favorite hypotheses. It was just something very simple. The trees that he was using were very unique.”

He points out, though, these findings do not mean Stradivari wasn’t a skilled craftsman.

“Our hypothesis doesn’t mean to say it was solely the wood,” he said. “He was also a gifted craftsman. There is no doubt about that.”

Besides being featured on the Weather Channel, Grissino-Mayer has received other recognition for his Stradivarius findings. He has been featured on CNN, the History Channel and in newspapers and magazines across the world.

“It’s just cool to be able to do the research here at the university and be recognized for it by the media,” he said. “It’s nice to be appreciated. It’s nice to know that what I do actually makes a difference.”

Grissino-Mayer also uses his tree ring expertise to forecast future climate changes. He and Claudia Mora, professor of earth and planetary sciences, research the frequency of hurricanes based on the chemical composition of tree rings. With this information, they are able to compile data going back hundreds of years. This allows them to determine whether the recent increase in hurricanes is abnormal or part of a natural cycle.

So far, the research has shown the rate of hurricanes has remained consistent, he said.

Grissino-Mayer uses tree rings to also research the regularity of wildfires. Through variation in the tree rings, he can tell when, and how intense the wildfires have been. Wildfires have become much more intense during the past 300 years, he said.

To predict future events, information should be viewed from a historical context, Grissino-Mayer said, and tree rings provide the historical data.

“Hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, wildfires, insect outbreaks, water pollution, air pollution, acid rainfall. If it happens in the environment, trees record it. They are nature’s ultimate recording station,” he said.

While most of Grissino-Mayer’s fame comes from uncovering Stradivari’s secret and from hurricane research, his favorite research is dating log cabins. He used tree rings to date the log cabin in which Abraham Lincoln supposedly was born. He proved the cabin was a hoax. It could not have been Lincoln’s birthplace because it was built after Lincoln was born.

His research has added greatly to the UT Department of Geography, said Bruce Ralston, geography professor and former department head. The tree rings research compliments the work of other professors researching climate change, he said.

Grissino-Mayer is extremely passionate about his research, and this passion comes through when he talks about his work, Ralston said.

“He is a very good at communicating the excitement of his research, and not just to his students but to the general public,” Ralston said.

Natalie Langlinais, producer of the Weather Channel’s “100 Biggest Moments in Weather,” noticed this ability to communicate excitement. Of the many scientific experts she has interviewed, few are as engaging as Grissino-Mayer, she said.

“He truly has a special talent for presenting technical information in a relevant, interesting way,” she said.