Just curious - How do we know the exact cause of Beethoven's deafness today? I assume doctors of the time didn't possess enough knowledge of the causes of deafness to make a diagnosis.
Chris [1]Sent from Yahoo Mail for iPhone On Saturday, November 11, 2017, 7:01 PM, John Mardinly <john.mardi...@asu.edu> wrote: Beethoven's deafness was caused by "inner ear" problems, sometimes called labyrinthitis, a form of nerve deafness, not mechanical problems, such as damage to the eardrum or the small bones of the inner ear. As such, it is unlikely that the bone conduction would have been any use to him. A. John Mardinly, Ph.D., P.E. > On Nov 10, 2017, at 5:27 PM, howard posner <[2]howardpos...@ca.rr.com> wrote: > > >> On Nov 10, 2017, at 10:50 AM, G. C. <[3]kalei...@gmail.com> wrote: >> >> According to Dan Brown in his newest book, "Origins", Beethoven was the >> inventor of "bone conduction technology", who upon going deaf, >> discovered that he could fix a metal rod to his piano, and bite down on >> it as he played, enabling him to hear perfectly, through vibrations in >> his jaw bone. > > Take this with a grain of salt, especially when you see things like this one on the Time Magazine website: > > Interest in Beethoven's hearing loss has long captivated his fans, > many of whom are fascinated by the tragic circumstances of a deaf > composer and the ways Beethoven managed to keep working even > after he completely lost his hearing by the time he was 45. As TIME > once described it, "by clenching a stick in his teeth, holding it against > the keyboard of his piano, he could discern faint sounds." > > I've never seen any reference to any evidence for anything like this. Has anyone else? > > > > To get on or off this list see list information at > [4]https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cs.dartmouth .edu_-7Ewbc_lute-2Dadmin_index.html&d=DwIFaQ&c=l45AxH-kUV29SRQusp9vYR0n 1GycN4_2jInuKy6zbqQ&r=VLPJ8OE-c_C6joGeE1ftlvxMmQPq9N6mpKZONBRt90E&m=XAd 5dnGEKxTCDxtWP81_OkSN7GFzU2vnXU4QhxuI7oU&s=Btd8TqMsKFhk-qbydx4-AdWQqPVK tB-etle0bCxH5gY&e= -- References 1. https://yho.com/footer0 2. mailto:howardpos...@ca.rr.com 3. mailto:kalei...@gmail.com 4. https://urldefense.proofpoint.com/v2/url?u=http-3A__www.cs.dartmouth.edu_-7Ewbc_lute-2Dadmin_index.html&d=DwIFaQ&c=l45AxH-kUV29SRQusp9vYR0n1GycN4_2jInuKy6zbqQ&r=VLPJ8OE-c_C6joGeE1ftlvxMmQPq9N6mpKZONBRt90E&m=XAd5dnGEKxTCDxtWP81_OkSN7GFzU2vnXU4QhxuI7oU&s=Btd8TqMsKFhk-qbydx4-AdWQqPVKtB-etle0bCxH5gY&e=
