Gouk, P. and Sykes, Ingrid. (2011) Hearing science in mid-eighteenth-century Britain and France. Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences, Vol.66 (No.4). pp. 507-545. ISSN 0022-5045

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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.

Item Type:	Journal Article
Subjects:	D History General and Old World > DA Great Britain D History General and Old World > DC France R Medicine > R Medicine (General)
Library of Congress Subject Headings (LCSH):	Hearing -- Great Britain -- History -- 18th century, Hearing -- France -- History -- 18th century
Journal or Publication Title:	Journal of the History of Medicine and Allied Sciences
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
ISSN:	0022-5045
Date:	2011
Volume:	Vol.66
Number:	No.4
Page Range:	pp. 507-545
Identification Number:	10.1093/jhmas/jrq045
Status:	Peer Reviewed
Publication Status:	Published
Access rights to Published version:	Restricted or Subscription Access
URI:	http://wrap.warwick.ac.uk/id/eprint/39725

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