The Nobel Laureate Georg von Békésy was a Genius

Georg von Békésy (1899-1972), as a Hungarian citizen, was awarded the 1961 Nobel Prize in Medicine for his experiments in Hungary (1923-1946) “for his discoveries of the physical mechanisms of stimulation within the cochlea”. The most significant element of Békésy's oeuvre is the observation and description of the mechanical processes in the inner ear and the creation of a new theory on the nature of hearing. He was the first to produce a model that truly resembles the inner ear. His success is due to detailed studies on the constituents of the cochlea and a large number of measurements. It is also very important to identify how the mechanism of neural inhibition in the ear contributes to the distinction of “signal” from “noise”. For Békésy, the biophysical approach was decisive, and he connected the three sense organs (ear, skin, eye) with each other. In his oeuvre, he also combined his research in physics, communications and medicine, as well as his scientific work with art.