Hallowell Davis | |
|---|---|
| Born | (1896-08-31)August 31, 1896 New York |
| Died | August 22, 1992(1992-08-22) (aged 95) |
| Education | Harvard University |
| Known for | Physiology of hearing and theinner ear |
| Spouse(s) | Pauline Allen (m. 1923, d. 1942); Florence Eaton (m. 1944, d. 1980); Nancy Gilson m. 1983) |
| Relatives | Norwood Penrose Hallowell (grandfather) |
| Awards | ASA Gold Medal,National Medal of Science |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Physiology |
| Institutions | Harvard University Central Institute for the Deaf Washington University in St. Louis |
| Academic advisors | Edgar Adrian |
Hallowell Davis (August 31, 1896 – August 22, 1992) was an Americanphysiologist,otolaryngologist and researcher who did pioneering work on the physiology of hearing and theinner ear. He served as director of research at theCentral Institute for the Deaf inSt. Louis, Missouri.
Hallowell Davis was born on August 31, 1896, inNew York City, the son of attorney Horace A. Davis, and Anna Norwood (néeHallowell) Davis.[1][2] His great-grandfather wasMassachusetts GovernorJohn Davis, and his grandfather was Civil War OfficerNorwood Penrose Hallowell. He graduated fromHarvard College in 1918, where he was the class orator at graduation.[3] He earned his medical degree fromHarvard Medical School in 1922 and then spent a year at theUniversity of Cambridge where he was trained inelectrophysiology in the laboratory ofEdgar Adrian.[1]
In 1925, Harvard named Davis to serve as an official tutor and instructor inpre-medical sciences, as a means of helping prepare students intending to advance to Harvard and other medical schools to "get the soundest general foundation possible for their medical education".[4] After the year in England, he returned to teach at Harvard and became an assistant professor at Harvard College in 1927 and the school's first tutor in biochemical sciences, later becoming the director of the school's Psycho-Acoustic Laboratory.[1] He was elected to theAmerican Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1929.[5]
During the 1930s, Davis participated in the development ofelectroencephalography and was the first person in the United States to have his brain waves scanned by an EEG device. He focused on the physiology of the inner ear, investigating how neurological impulses are transmitted to the brain via thecochlear nerve. His studies led to the development of electrical-responseaudiometry, which allowed diagnosis of hearing difficulties in infants.[1]Robert Galambos credited Davis with coining the word "audiology" in the 1940s, with Davis saying the then-prevalent term "auricular training" sounded like a method of teaching people how to wiggle their ears.[6]
Davis moved to the Central Institute for the Deaf, where some of his early work was for theVeterans Administration in the development of improvedhearing aids for soldiers who had experienced hearing loss. Combining aspects and research from the fields ofbehaviorism, electroacoustic engineering and electrophysiology, Davis was able to advance the study of the field, which could be seen in his 1947 workHearing and Deafness: A Guide for the Layman, which he co-edited withS. Richard Silverman. In 1948, he was elected to the United StatesNational Academy of Sciences.[7] He was also a professor of physiology at theWashington University School of Medicine, where he lectured on hearing and speech.[1] Research by Davis presented to theBritish Association for the Advancement of Science in 1952 showed thathair cells in the inner ear play a pivotal role in transforming the mechanical stimulus of sound into electrical impulses to be sent to and processed by the brain.[8]
During the 1960s, Davis served on theNational Research Council's Committee on theSonic Boom andSupersonic Transport, where he argued that the noise would result in hearing irritation to the public, in addition to being an economic risk.[6][9] He was elected to theAmerican Philosophical Society in 1965.[10]
Davis was awarded theAcoustical Society of America Gold Medal in 1965 and theNational Medal of Science in 1975.[11][12]
He married the former Pauline Allen in 1923 at a refugee camp nearIstanbul, where they were treating those with typhus, smallpox and other diseases. She served as his research partner until her death in 1942. He married Florence Eaton in 1944 and then Nancy Gilson in 1983, three years after the death of his second wife.[6]
Davis was a resident ofUniversity City, Missouri. He died at age 95 on August 22, 1992, at the Bethesda Dalworth Home in St. Louis. He was survived by his third wife, Nancy, as well as a daughter, two sons, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren. He donated his inner ear for scientific research.[1]
