Introduction
Georg von Békésy was awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology and Medicine in 1961 for his research into cochlear functioning in the mammalian hearing organ. Before and during the Second World War, von Békésy had worked in the research laboratory of the Hungarian Post Office in Budapest. He was even then a PhD in Physics. One of his most remarkable characteristics was an ability to construct physical models displaying key features of the cochlea's mechanical response.
In the present paper, an early von Békésy publication on the inner ear's hearing process, he presented the background for how sound is analysed by the cochlea as a travelling wave. This view of the cochlea, seen as a passive mechanical signal analyser, was regarded as valid until almost 50 years later when additional active processes were revealed.
Von Bekésy's study showed that when the basilar membrane is set in motion by two tunes at close frequency, a single broad resonance curve is obtained. He concluded that certain nerves can help to distinguish between the two tunes. He also stated that a travelling wave, when elicited by loud sounds can cause fluid movements that interact with the vestibular organ. An earlier publication, associated with this paper, dealt with the development of modern acoustics and the middle ear processing of the sound wave.
