Joseph Leopold Auenbrugger--founder of percussion technique.

Knowledge of acoustics and sound, an interest in music and his familiarity with tapping the wine barrels in his father’s inn, helped Auenbrugger develop the science of percussion. An empty barrel or a normal chest, gave a resonant sound on percussion, while a barrel filled with wine or the pleural cavity filled with an effusion, gave out a different note. He was also able to outline the cardiac size in health and disease.