Von Békésy, Georg, 1899-1972

Georg von Békésy (Hungarian: Békésy György, pronounced [ˈbeːkeːʃi ˈɟørɟ]; 3 June 1899 – 13 June 1972) was a Hungarian-American biophysicist. By using strobe photography and silver flakes as a marker, he was able to observe that the basilar membrane moves like a surface wave when stimulated by sound. Because of the structure of the cochlea and the basilar membrane, different frequencies of sound cause the maximum amplitudes of the waves to occur at different places on the basilar membrane along the coil of the cochlea. High frequencies cause more vibration at the base of the cochlea while low frequencies create more vibration at the apex. He concluded that his observations showed how different sound wave frequencies are locally dispersed before exciting different nerve fibers that lead from the cochlea to the brain. In 1961, he was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his research on the function of the cochlea in the mammalian hearing organ. In his last publication A. James Hudspeth and his research team – based on "a groundbreaking technological advancement" – ultimately established that also in mammals frequency analysis in the inner ear is accomplished by tuned hairs cells. This process occurs without a traveling wave (surface wave) on the basilar membrane, and the inner ear theory of Békésy was thus disproved.