There is a vast amount of violin acoustics research and publications that goes far back in time. It would be pointless to repeat this here as it is not new and has been written over and over again. If someone has a good chronological path and overview, I would be happy to publish it here.
My own research started 1997 based on what was known at that time. Mostly based on Carleen Hutchins thesis. This eventually lead to a dead end, where I did not find a way to move forward. In 2009 - 2010 there was a summary of coincidences that lead me to Patrick Kreit's research.
As I live in Finland in a modern house where relative humidity can vary from ~ 0% to 70%, between winter and summer, I learned that the sonority of violins varied from great, good to harsh. I also found out that good violins became harsh and difficult to play after a couple of years seasoning. They never got their beautiful tone back.
The first edition of The Sound of Stradivari was published 2010. This was the beginning of experimental action research, with Maestronet as a testing field. I want to thank all the enthusiasts there. Despite the sometimes pointless argues and debates, it helped me to be certain - This is NEW