PHYSICIST

Georg von Békésy

1899 - 1972

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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. Read more on Wikipedia

His biography is available in different languages on Wikipedia. Georg von Békésy is the 187th most popular physicist (up from 250th in 2019), the 66th most popular biography from Hungary (up from 92nd in 2019) and the 5th most popular Hungarian Physicist.

Georg von Békésy is most famous for his discovery of the basilar membrane in the inner ear.

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Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Georg von Békésy ranks 187 out of 851. Before him are Burton Richter, Isamu Akasaki, Shin'ichirō Tomonaga, Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, Jerome Isaac Friedman, and Hans Geiger. After him are Douglas Osheroff, George Smoot, Ilya Frank, Isidor Isaac Rabi, Auguste Piccard, and Val Logsdon Fitch.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1899, Georg von Békésy ranks 24. Before him are Iskander Mirza, Fred Astaire, Paul Hermann Müller, Erich Kästner, Miguel Ángel Asturias, and Béla Guttmann. After him are Max Theiler, Suzanne Lenglen, Adnan Menderes, Gustav Heinemann, Duke Ellington, and Bertil Ohlin. Among people deceased in 1972, Georg von Békésy ranks 20. Before him are Franz Halder, Athenagoras I of Constantinople, Asta Nielsen, J. Edgar Hoover, Paul Hausser, and Cristóbal Balenciaga. After him are Max Theiler, Talal of Jordan, Andrei Tupolev, Dino Buzzati, Katherine Oppenheimer, and Princess Sibylla of Saxe-Coburg and Gotha.

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In Hungary

Among people born in Hungary, Georg von Békésy ranks 66 out of 1,077. Before him are George Andrew Olah (1927), Emeric, King of Hungary (1174), Imre Lakatos (1922), Flórián Albert (1941), Paul Erdős (1913), and Béla Guttmann (1899). After him are Ladislaus IV of Hungary (1262), Arthur Koestler (1905), Marcel Breuer (1902), Emeric Thököly (1657), Elizabeth of Luxembourg (1409), and Karl Mannheim (1893).

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Among PHYSICISTS In Hungary

Among physicists born in Hungary, Georg von Békésy ranks 5. Before him are Leo Szilard (1898), Edward Teller (1908), Eugene Wigner (1902), and Dennis Gabor (1900). After him are Arpad Elo (1903), Ferenc Krausz (1962), Nicholas Kurti (1908), Zoltán Lajos Bay (1900), Valentine Telegdi (1922), and Egon Orowan (1902).

Hungarian born Physicists

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