25 LEARNING ABOUT SENSES

The initial true knowledge of the structure and functioning of the sense organs began to emerge as early as the Middle Ages (the works of Arab scientists Algazen and Avicenna). Algazen experimentally proved that the eye is the most accurate optical device that acts according to the laws of reflection and refraction of light.

Avicenna, who comprehended the laws of combining colors with the help of a special spinning disc, followed a similar view (works in the same direction were also conducted by the English scientist F. Bacon in the 13th century).

The subsequent development of questions of vision was associated with the names of famous physicists I. Kepler, R. Descartes, R. Hooke, I. Newton, M. V. Lomonosov.

They identified a number of theses regarding the optical properties of the eye, lens and retina, the mechanisms of accommodation and binocular vision, the role of eye muscles in the perception of objects, the impact of objective conditions of perception (viewing angle, light, etc.) on the nature of vision of external objects, color vision features. In the XVIII century. a lot of experiments were carried out in the field of establishing a blind spot, visual acuity, thresholds of distinction, the duration of a consistent image.

Views on the problems of color vision were developed in the first theories of color vision (T. Jung, M. V. Lomonosov), an appearance in print by the English chemist D. Dalton, who described the defects! your vision is red-green blindness. Compared with vision, there was much less scientific knowledge about the structure and functioning of the hearing aid and very little about other sense organs - touch, smell, taste sensitivity.

In the field of physiology of vision and hearing, a great contribution was made by I. Müller.

An important place in his study was occupied by the issues of binocular vision, light and color adaptation, combination of colors, sequential images, mechanisms of convergence and accommodation, the phenomenon of contrast, etc.

In the field of hearing, I. Müller focused mainly on the study of the structure and functions of the external, middle and inner ear. Thus, they found that the perception of high and low tones depends on the diverse voltage of the auditory membrane.

As for the senses, he came to the following conclusion: their quality is not determined by the nature of the external stimulus, but by the properties of the nerves or the sensory organs themselves.

The leading role in the progress of knowledge in the field of touch was played by the research of E. Weber, who in 1834 published the work “On Tactile”. They found that touch is a synthetic and sensitive "organ", which includes temperature, muscle, pain sensitivity, as well as sensations of touch and pressure.