Allan Pierce
Professor Emeritus (ME)
- Email adp@bu.edu
Research Interests
Wave propagation and scattering in heterogeneous materials * Acoustical oceanography, underwater sound * Wind turbines * Structural acoustics and vibrations
Professor Pierce is known for a large variety of fundamental research on the mechanics of waves, acoustics, and structural vibrations. Past work includes atmospheric acoustics, nuclear test detection, sonic booms, interaction of sound with structures, waves on fluid immersed shells, diffraction and scattering of sound, the mechanics of marine sediments, and noise control.
His landmark book, Acoustics: An Introduction to its Physical Principles and Applications, is widely considered the definitive acoustics textbook. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Acoustical Society of America, and past co-editor of the Academic Press series on Physical Acoustics and of the Journal of Computational Acoustics. Dr. Pierce has received the Silver Medal in Physical Acoustics, the Rossing Medal for Acoustics Education, the Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America, the Per Bruel Gold Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Gold Medal of AFECT (Acoustical Foundation of India), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Senior U.S. Scientist Award.
Before coming to Boston University to take the position as Department Chair (1993-1999), Dr. Pierce held the Leonhard Chair in Engineering at Penn State, and prior to that he was Regents Professor at Georgia Tech.
His landmark book, Acoustics: An Introduction to its Physical Principles and Applications, is widely considered the definitive acoustics textbook. He is the Editor-in-Chief of the Acoustical Society of America, and past co-editor of the Academic Press series on Physical Acoustics and of the Journal of Computational Acoustics. Dr. Pierce has received the Silver Medal in Physical Acoustics, the Rossing Medal for Acoustics Education, the Gold Medal of the Acoustical Society of America, the Per Bruel Gold Medal of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers, the Gold Medal of AFECT (Acoustical Foundation of India), and the Alexander von Humboldt Foundation Senior U.S. Scientist Award.
Before coming to Boston University to take the position as Department Chair (1993-1999), Dr. Pierce held the Leonhard Chair in Engineering at Penn State, and prior to that he was Regents Professor at Georgia Tech.
Selected Publications
- Allan D. Pierce, “Relation of sound absorption and shallow water modal attenuation to plane wave attenuation,” J. Acoust. Soc. Am. Volume 126, Issue 5, 2009.
- Allan D. Pierce and William M. Carey. “Acoustical characteristics of muddy sediments,”POMA, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2009.
- Allan D. Pierce, “Realities of publishing in a journal: why should you submit, what should you submit, and what problems might you encounter,” POMA, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2009.
- Allan D. Pierce and William M. Carey, “Card-house theory of mud sediments containing kaolinite and its acoustical implications,” Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Volume 5, Issue 1, 2009.
- Allan D. Pierce and Adnan Akay, “Intrinsic damping models and their role in predicting structural response,” POMA, Volume 6, Issue 1, 2009.
- Allan D. Pierce and William M. Carey. “Shear wave speed increases with depth to the one-sixth power in sandy-silty marine sediments,” Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Volume 4, Issue 1, 2009.
- Allan D. Pierce, “Causality and mathematical models in vibration and acoustics, a realistic perspective,” Proceedings of Meetings on Acoustics, Vol. 5, Issue 1, 2008.
- Allan D. Pierce, “Derivation of Maxwell’s equations via the covariance requirements of the special theory of relativity, starting with Newton’s laws” ArXiv, 2008.