PHYSICIST

Georg von Békésy

1899 - 1972

Photo of Georg von Békésy

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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. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of Georg von Békésy has received more than 146,340 page views. His biography is available in 52 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 50 in 2019). Georg von Békésy is the 249th most popular physicist (down from 217th in 2019), the 92nd most popular biography from Hungary (down from 89th 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.

Memorability Metrics

  • 150k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 62.65

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 52

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 9.95

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.15

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Among PHYSICISTS

Among physicists, Georg von Békésy ranks 249 out of 851. Before him are Patrick Blackett, Klaus Hasselmann, John Archibald Wheeler, Jim Peebles, Gérard Mourou, and Georg Bednorz. After him are Ivar Giaever, Claude-Louis Navier, Brian Josephson, Charles Wheatstone, Masatoshi Koshiba, and Philip Warren Anderson.

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1899, Georg von Békésy ranks 36. Before him are Max Theiler, Alfred Schütz, Gloria Swanson, Charles Laughton, Ferhat Abbas, and Jean Moulin. After him are Suzanne Lenglen, John Hasbrouck Van Vleck, Leo Strauss, Bronislav Kaminski, Chang Myon, and Lucio Fontana. Among people deceased in 1972, Georg von Békésy ranks 30. Before him are Andrei Tupolev, Paul-Henri Spaak, Heinrich Lübke, Max Theiler, Athenagoras I of Constantinople, and Ghassan Kanafani. After him are Emil Maurice, Henri Coandă, Margaret Rutherford, Ludwig von Bertalanffy, Jackie Robinson, and Antonio Segni.

Others Born in 1899

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Others Deceased in 1972

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In Hungary

Among people born in Hungary, Georg von Békésy ranks 92 out of 1,077. Before him are Michael Curtiz (1886), Theodore von Kármán (1881), Violant of Hungary (1215), Stephen III of Hungary (1147), József Bozsik (1925), and Ladislaus III of Hungary (1199). After him are Ignác Goldziher (1850), István Tisza (1861), Mihály Károlyi (1875), Samuel Aba (990), George Andrew Olah (1927), and János Áder (1959).

Others born in Hungary

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Among PHYSICISTS In Hungary

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

Hungarian born Physicists

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