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E. Glen Wever

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research. A term as chair of Princeton's psychology department brought him no joy. Still, he was married to Suzanne Rinehart Wever, an accomplished musician. Wever's 1949 book, "Theory of Hearing" became a primary source of information for generations of acoustic investigators. He completed books on "The Reptile Ear" (1978) and "The Amphibian Ear" (1985), but never finished the third in the trilogy, which was to be on the fish ear.
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who were able to provide him with necessary electrical equipment: sound-level meters, amplifiers, and audio oscillators. At Princeton, in an early achievement of note, Wever and Charles Bray discovered that electrodes wrapped around the exposed auditory nerve of a (sedated) cat could transmit through
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Wever's laboratory studied hearing mechanisms in organisms ranging from 1 gram lizards to 200 kilogram dolphins, including notable studies on turtles, snakes, and bats (which he caught himself). He was said to have little or no interest in social or other activities that might distract him from his
67:'s psychology department, where he remained for his entire career, rising to full professor in 1941. It was at Berkeley, however, that he first began thinking about auditory science. He soon made contact with researchers at 80:
is still used today as a measure of cochlear function. Wever and Bray subsequently recorded true action potentials, resulting in, among other discoveries, the now-accepted
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a telephone wire an understandable replica of conversation in the room. Although Wever and Bray misinterpreted the signal as the
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Wever received many awards and honors, including the inaugural award of the Howard Crosby Warren Gold Medal from the
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Elle O'Brien, "Ernest Glen Wever: Historical Biographies in Acoustics", Acoustics Today
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of the auditory nerve, the effect was real. This so-called
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E.G. Wever. Theory of Hearing (New York: Wiley, 1949)
51:, Wever earned an M.A. in experimental psychology at 19:(October 16, 1902–September 4, 1991) was an American 27:, ranging from the biomechanical functioning of the 255:
Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni
55:in 1924, followed by a Ph.D. in 1926, working on 226: 209: 59:. He was recruited to a faculty position at 265:University of California, Berkeley faculty 216: 202: 23:known for his elucidation of hearing in 184:This article about a psychologist is a 227: 147: 145: 143: 141: 98:Society of Experimental Psychologists 172: 129: 127: 125: 91: 260:20th-century American psychologists 13: 138: 14: 286: 122: 82:volley theory of frequency coding 176: 63:but left after one year to join 156: 1: 115: 270:Princeton University faculty 245:People from Benton, Illinois 188:. You can help Knowledge by 42: 7: 100:, a prize later awarded to 69:Bell Telephone Laboratories 10: 291: 250:Experimental psychologists 171: 21:experimental psychologist 78:cochlear microphonic 37:evolutionary biology 275:Psychologist stubs 197: 196: 92:Awards and honors 57:visual perception 35:of sound and the 17:Ernest Glen Wever 282: 218: 211: 204: 180: 173: 163: 160: 154: 149: 136: 131: 110:Georg von Békésy 74:action potential 49:Benton, Illinois 290: 289: 285: 284: 283: 281: 280: 279: 225: 224: 223: 222: 169: 167: 166: 161: 157: 150: 139: 132: 123: 118: 94: 45: 12: 11: 5: 288: 278: 277: 272: 267: 262: 257: 252: 247: 242: 237: 221: 220: 213: 206: 198: 195: 194: 181: 165: 164: 155: 137: 120: 119: 117: 114: 93: 90: 44: 41: 9: 6: 4: 3: 2: 287: 276: 273: 271: 268: 266: 263: 261: 258: 256: 253: 251: 248: 246: 243: 241: 238: 236: 233: 232: 230: 219: 214: 212: 207: 205: 200: 199: 193: 191: 187: 182: 179: 175: 174: 170: 159: 153: 148: 146: 144: 142: 135: 130: 128: 126: 121: 113: 111: 107: 103: 99: 89: 85: 83: 79: 75: 70: 66: 62: 58: 54: 50: 40: 38: 34: 33:neural coding 30: 26: 22: 18: 190:expanding it 183: 168: 158: 106:Karl Lashley 102:B.F. Skinner 95: 86: 46: 39:of hearing. 16: 15: 240:1991 deaths 235:1902 births 61:UC Berkeley 25:vertebrates 229:Categories 116:References 65:Princeton 43:Biography 47:Born in 53:Harvard 31:to the 29:cochlea 108:, and 186:stub 231:: 140:^ 124:^ 112:. 104:, 84:. 217:e 210:t 203:v 192:.

Index

experimental psychologist
vertebrates
cochlea
neural coding
evolutionary biology
Benton, Illinois
Harvard
visual perception
UC Berkeley
Princeton
Bell Telephone Laboratories
action potential
cochlear microphonic
volley theory of frequency coding
Society of Experimental Psychologists
B.F. Skinner
Karl Lashley
Georg von Békésy



Elle O'Brien, "Ernest Glen Wever: Historical Biographies in Acoustics", Acoustics Today




"Ernest Glen Wever", National Academy of Sciences Biographical Memoirs
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