The nature and import of the legacy of Binaural Hearing research from 1900 to 1950

Abstract

The goal is to present a historical picture of the research that serves as the foundations for Binaural Hearing as we know it today. The focus will be on the scientists and students who conducted that research and the institutions at which they resided. Knowledge composing the foundation of the field of binaural hearing is commonly identified with several individual pioneering scientists whose publications formed its basis. What is not so well appreciated is the fact that the modern literature stems from succeeding generations of doctoral and post-doctoral students that are related to the pioneers and each other via a rich set of integral institutional and personal interrelationships. In today's field of Binaural Hearing it has become commonplace to be trained by more than one mentor, in laboratories at more than one institution, in more than one discipline spanning anatomy, physiology, behavior, or acoustical engineering and, often, to perform mathematical modeling using information gleaned from any or all of them. Today, despite one's particular background, it is possible to be employed (often doing similar research) in any of a variety of settings within universities and industry. The primary motivation for this talk stems from interest expressed by many of our younger colleagues. Over many years, they have shown a delight in learning about “who trained and worked with whom, and where.”