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Early Life
Mach was born in a city named Chirlitz which now resides within the boundaries of what is the Czech Republic. His father was a tutor and a graduate of Prague University. Mach would receive his early education at home from his parents where they raised their children on a farm near Vienna. Young Mach would follow to study Physics at the University of Vienna where he would receive his Doctorate around the age of 22 in Physics with a thesis titled "On Electrical Charge and Induction". -
Professor Mach
After finishing his doctoral work in physics Mach would give lectures on Mathematics and Physics at the University of Vienna. In 1864, having demonstrated excellent experiments and producing very precise measuring tools he was offered a position as Professor of Mathematics at the University of Graz. His early work focused on the Doppler Effect in optics and he produced the effect in sound as well. Soon after his induction as Professor of Mathematics he would change his discipline to Physics. -
Move to Prague
In 1867 he would move to Prague and head the department of Experimental Physics at Charles University. His tenure here would span 28 years and he would publish more than 100 papers of his research. Mach spent his time here studying a variety of subjects from retinal stimulation to experiments on wave motion in night and sound. Mach, maybe most famously was known for his study of wave propagation and what we know now with terms like Mach number, Mach wave and Mach line to name a few. His legacy. -
Back to Vienna
Mach now at the pinnacle of his career and maybe life assumed a position as chair of the history and philosophy of inductive sciences at the University of Vienna. Here he would define his view on the goal of physical science. He described scientific laws as a sort of way for us to describe our sensations to certain events. He eluded to thoughts about humans only claiming understanding in environments that we can encounter.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CLZ6X997ujU
