Each part of the human is uniquely and beautifully...

Each part of the human is uniquely and beautifully constructed in the most efficient design. Human ears are not much to look at, yet behind these flaps of skin and cartilage lie structures of such delicacy that they shame the most skillful craftsman, and of such reliable automatic operation that they inspire awe in the most ingenious engineer. Working together, the structure of the outer, middle, and inner ear perform acts of amazing range and virtuosity.

The reason we have two ears is because they form a stereo system allowing us to identify the place from which the sound originated and also to identify whether the source is moving. The processing of sound by the ear and brain is so accurate that clicks presented to one ear and then the other can be distinguished as separate Plain But Perfect! sounds when the time interval between them is as small as thirty microseconds. You Could Hear A Pin drop...

If the, sensitivity of the ear was further increased, we would be conscious of the continual bombardment of the eardrum by air molecules. Even at the present limit it is surprising that we do not hear our own blood flowing through the tiny vessels in the eardrum. This is so because the ear can ignore signals which are constantly present. In fact, a normal ear can discriminate among some 400,000 sounds. We can reject the hubbub of a function while picking out a single familiar voice.

Even during sleep the ear continues to function with incredible efficiency: because the brain can interpret and select signals passed to it by the ear, a person can sleep soundly through noisy traffic and the blaring of a neighbor's television, and yet awaken promptly at the gentle urging of an alarm clock. A barking dog, a squealing tire, a footstep - can all be identified. All This And More! Of all the organs of the body, few can accomplish as much in so little a space as the ear.

If an engineer could duplicate its functions, he would have to compress into approximately one cubic inch a sound system that includes an impedance matcher, a wide range mechanical analyser, 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 communication system.

Even if he could perform this miracle of miniaturization, he would be unable to match the ear's performance.