There's no doubt Stradivari was a master craftsman. But I tend to think Joseph Nagyvary's hypothesis (a rather controversial one) about the "secret" of 17th-18th century Cremonese violins being as mundane as the prevailing lumber transportation method at the time is on the right track. Nagyvary's own violins, after all, have been acoustically indistinguishable from Guarneri violins since he started using wood salvaged from the Great Lakes. (Also, I am fortunate to live near a concert hall that uses wood paneling from the same source; the acoustics are easily the best I've heard.)

I suspect Stradivari himself might want to discuss wood sourcing with Nagyvary, and would be fascinated with Fast Fourier Transform analysis.

I don't think I'd be overawed by him, because I'm a violist, and Stradivari violas, while excellent, are generally not considered to be the best in the world; violists tend to find them awkward to play. Their extremely high value is mostly because of their rarity. (He is only known to have made 13 violas, mostly early in his career, and only one during the two decades that are considered his golden period.)

Re: hide glue, I was under the impression that the reason for its use is to allow violins to be easily re-opened. Presumably modern adhesives with similar properties exist?