Hearing science in mid-eighteenth-century Britain and France.

Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences
Penelope Gouk, Ingrid Sykes

Abstract

Benjamin Martin, the English natural philosopher, and Claude-Nicolas Le Cat, the French surgeon, both published important work on auditory physiology and function in the mid-eighteenth century. Despite their different backgrounds, there was consensus between the two scholars on key principles of hearing research, most notably the importance of the inner ear in relation to auditory perception. Martin's work (1755 [1763?]) drew directly on the surgical work of Le Cat (1741) to demonstrate the importance of the auditory mechanism in listening processes. Le Cat's interest in the ear, however, came in turn from his interest in surgical anatomy. Martin used Le Cat's elegant designs as a tool for the vivid communication of auditory function to a popular, fee-paying audience. The meeting of two very different minds through intellectual agreement and material transfer demonstrates the way in which principles of hearing science were established in the Enlightenment period.

Citations

Feb 15, 2013·Clinical Anatomy : Official Journal of the American Association of Clinical Anatomists & the British Association of Clinical Anatomists·Helena RothSarah Mackay
Apr 20, 2014·Journal of the American Academy of Dermatology·Mary E HornerM Alan Menter

❮ Previous
Next ❯

Related Concepts

Related Feeds

Auditory Perception

Auditory perception is the ability to receive and interpret information attained by the ears. Here is the latest research on factors and underlying mechanisms that influence auditory perception.