Author: HELMHOLTZ, H. VON
Title: Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen als physiologische Grundlage für die Theorie der Musik. Mit in den Text eingedruckten Holzstichen. Dritte umgearbeitete Ausgabe.
Description: Braunschweig, Druck und Verlag von Friedrich Vieweg und Sohn, 1870. 8vo. W. 66 woodengrs. in the text. Contemp. half. green clf. over marbled brds., spine sl. rubb. (XVI, 640, I pp.). Third edition. DSB VI, p. 241 - 253: 'In 1857 the Baden government offered Helmholtz a chair at Heidelberg, then at the peak of its fame as a scientific center. ...The following 13 years at Heidelberg were among the most productive of Helmholtz' career. He carried on his research in sensory physiology, publishing in 1862 [Preface of the publ. is indeed dated October 1862] his influential "Die Lehre von den Tonempfindungen..." ... [His] greatest achievement in physiological acoustics lay in formulating the resonance theory of hearing. ... Between 1850 and 1855 the microscopic anatomy of the cochlea first became known. Among the structures revealed were the rods of Corti strung out in gradually increasing size along the length of the cochlea ... In 1857 Helmholtz boldly hypothesized that these rods function as tuned resonators. ... the resonance theory satisfies Müller's law and provides a physiological explanation of Ohm's law... Helmholtz incorporated all these results in his great work "Tonempfindungen" (1863) in which he applied his discoveries to music theory.': comp. G&M 1562: 'Helmholtz's theory of hearing, upon which all modern theories of resonance are based. This exhaustive study of acoustics ranks as one of the greatest books on the subject and shows that Helmholtz was, besides being a great physicist and physician, an accomplished musician.': Comp. Norman Coll. I, 1044: Comp. Norman Sale III, item 1116: Grolier, 100 books famous in science, 49a [on the 1st edition] : 'This foundation treatise has been termed the "Principia" of physiological acoustics.':

Keywords: sound ear apparatus Doos38