By usingstrobe photography andsilver flakes as a marker, he was able to observe that thebasilar membrane moves like asurface wave when stimulated by sound. Because of the structure of thecochlea and the basilar membrane, differentfrequencies of sound cause the maximum amplitudes of the waves to occur at different places on the basilar membrane along the coil of thecochlea.[2] High frequencies cause more vibration at the base of the cochlea while low frequencies create more vibration at the apex.[3]
He concluded that his observations showed how different sound wave frequencies are locally dispersed before exciting differentnerve fibers that lead from the cochlea to the brain.
Békésy was born on 3 June 1899 inBudapest, Hungary, as the first of three children (György 1899, Lola 1901 and Miklós 1903) to Sándor Békésy (1860–1923), an economic diplomat, and to his mother Paula Mazaly.
The Békésy family was originallyReformed but converted toCatholicism.[5] His mother, Paula Mazaly (1877–1974) was born inSzagolyca (now Čađavica, Croatia). His maternal grandfather was fromPécs.[6] His father was born inKolozsvár (now Cluj-Napoca, Romania).
Békésy went to school in Budapest,Munich, andZürich. He studied chemistry inBern and received his PhD in physics on the subject: "Fast way of determining molecular weight" from theUniversity of Budapest in 1926.
He then spent one year working in an engineering firm. He published his first paper on the pattern of vibrations of the inner ear in 1928. He was offered a position atUppsala University byRóbert Bárány, which he declined because of the hard Swedish winters.
Before and duringWorld War II, Békésy worked for the Hungarian Post Office (1923 to 1946), where he did research on telecommunications signal quality. This research led him to become interested in the workings of the ear. In 1946, he left Hungary to follow this line of research at theKarolinska Institute in Sweden.
He became a well-known expert inAsian art. He had a large collection which he donated to the Nobel Foundation in Sweden. His brother, Dr. Miklós Békésy (1903-1980), stayed in Hungary and became a famousagrobiologist who was awarded theKossuth Prize.
Békésy contributed most notably to our understanding of the mechanism by which sound frequencies are registered in the inner ear. He developed a method for dissecting the inner ear of humancadavers while leaving the cochlea partly intact. By usingstrobe photography andsilver flakes as a marker, he was able to observe that thebasilar membrane moves like asurface wave when stimulated by sound. Because of the structure of the cochlea and the basilar membrane, differentfrequencies of sound cause the maximum amplitudes of the waves to occur at different places on the basilar membrane along the coil of thecochlea.[2] High frequencies cause more vibration at the base of the cochlea while low frequencies create more vibration at the apex.[3]
Békésy concluded from these observations that by exciting different locations on the basilar membrane different sound wave frequencies excite differentnerve fibers that lead from the cochlea to the brain. He theorized that, due to its placement along the cochlea, each sensory cell (hair cell) responds maximally to a specific frequency of sound (the so-calledtonotopy). Békésy later developed a mechanical model of the cochlea, which confirmed the concept of frequencydispersion by the basilar membrane in the mammalian cochlea.[2]
In an article published posthumously in 1974, Békésy reviewed progress in the field, remarking "In time, I came to the conclusion that the dehydrated cats and the application ofFourier analysis to hearing problems became more and more a handicap for research in hearing,"[8] referring to the difficulties in getting animal preparations to behave as when alive, and the misleading common interpretations of Fourier analysis in hearing research.
The Denker Prize in Otology (1931), The Leibniz Medal of the Berlin Academy of Sciences (1937), The Guyot Prize for Speech and Otology of Groningen University (1939), The Academy Award of the Budapest Academy of Science (1946), Shambough Prize in Otology (1950).
Honorary doctorates (M.D.) were conferred on him by the University of Munster (1955), Bern (1959), Padua (1962), Buenos Aires (1968), Cordoba (1968), Hawaii (1969) and Semmelweiss University, Budapest (1969).
Evans, Rand B. (2003), "Georg von Békésy: visualization of hearing",The American Psychologist, vol. 58, no. 9 (published Sep 2003), pp. 742–6,doi:10.1037/0003-066X.58.9.742,PMID14584991
Shampo, M. A.; Kyle, R A (1993), "Georg von Békésy—audiology and the cochlea",Mayo Clin. Proc., vol. 68, no. 7 (published Jul 1993), p. 706,doi:10.1016/s0025-6196(12)60608-9,PMID8350644
"Proceedings of Nobel Symposium 63. Cellular mechanisms in hearing (en hommage à Georg von Békésy). Karlskoga, 2–6 September 1985",Hear. Res., vol. 22, pp. 1–326, 1986,PMID3525481
Keidel, W. D. (1973), "In memorian Professor Dr. phil. Dr. med. h.c. Georg v. Békésy",Kybernetik, vol. 12, no. 2 (published Feb 1973), pp. 116–8,doi:10.1007/BF00272468,PMID4571620,S2CID28719612
Ratliff, F. (1973), "Georg von Békésy",Experimental Brain Research. Experimentelle Hirnforschung. Expérimentation Cérébrale, vol. 16, no. 3 (published Jan 29, 1973), pp. 219–20,doi:10.1007/BF00233326,PMID4568685,S2CID41518453
Keidel, W. D. (1973), "[In memoriam Professor Dr.phil.Dr.med.h.c. Georg von Békésy]",Zeitschrift für Laryngologie, Rhinologie, Otologie und ihre Grenzgebiete, vol. 52, no. 1 (published Jan 1973), pp. 1–6,PMID4567951
Tonndorf, J. (1972), "[Obituary for Georg von Békésy (1899–1972)]",Archiv für klinische und experimentelle Ohren- Nasen- und Kehlkopfheilkunde, vol. 203, no. 1, pp. 81–5,doi:10.1007/BF00344566,PMID4564741,S2CID21275843
"The American Speech and Hearing Association presents the honors of the Association",ASHA, vol. 9, no. 6 (published Jun 1967), p. 222, 1967,PMID5343023
Bernhard, C. G. (1962), "Presentation of the Nobel prize for physiology or medicine (1961) to George von BEKESY",Transactions of the American Otological Society, vol. 50, pp. 332–6,PMID13971073
Keidel, W. D. (1961), "[G. von BEKESY Nobel prize winner 1961.]",Zeitschrift für Laryngologie, Rhinologie, Otologie und ihre Grenzgebiete, vol. 40 (published Dec 1961), pp. 885–8,PMID14037041
Palva, T. (1961), "[The 1961 Nobel prize in medical science and physiology (Georg von BEKESY).]",Duodecim; Lääketieteellinen Aikakauskirja, vol. 77, pp. 791–2,PMID14037251
Georg von Békésy on Nobelprize.org including the Nobel Lecture, December 11, 1961Concerning the Pleasures of Observing, and the Mechanics of the Inner Ear
