Hearing

Hearing The remarkable organ that is the human ear is a miniature (about a cubic inch) sound system that includes the equivalents of “an impedance matcher, a wide-range mechanical analyzer, a mobile relay-and-amplification unit, a multichannel transducer to convert mechanical energy to electrical energy, a system to maintain a delicate hydraulic balance, and an internal two-way communications system” [Stevens 1965, p. 38]. In the act of hearing, sound waves enter the canal of the outer ear and…