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Ernst Mach Birth
Ernst Mach was born in Chrlice, Moravia now part of the Czech Republic. His father attended Charles University in Prague, and was tutor to the noble Brethon family. Fun fact Ernst Mach was born on the same day as me 161 years prior. -
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Ernst Mach Major Works
Ernst Mach made significant discoveries in physics, psychology, and philosophy in his lifetime.
In physics the speed of sound, Mach speed, bears his name. He studied to further Newton's research of space and time, which later inspired a young Albert Einstein.
In philosophy Mach is known for his anti-metaphysical attitude which developed into the verifiability theory of meaning. He is one of the few people to truly connect science and philosophy.
He was also one of the few scientists to bridge... -
Ernst Mach's Education
In 1866 Ernst Mach was appointed as Professor of Physics at the University of Graz in Graz, Austria. During this period, Mach continued his work in psycho-physics and in sensory perception. In 1867, he took the chair of Experimental Physics at the Charles University in Prague, where he stayed for 28 years before returning to the University of Vienna in Kroměříž, Czech Republic. Pictured below is the University of Graz in Austria, where Mach became a professor. -
Ernst Mach Studies of Physics
Everyone knows of Mach speed usually regarding fighter jets, but that isn't the entire parameter of Mach speed. Mach hypothesized that there was a conical shaped shock wave that formed at the apex of a projectile when travelling at a fast enough speed. This hypothesis was confirmed in 1887 and later called the "Mach number" which is the ratio of the speed of a fluid to the local speed of sound. Pictured below is a F-22 breaking the sound barrier. -
Ernst Mach Philosophy of Science
From 1895 to 1901, Mach was on of the first people to hold a position for "the history and philosophy of the inductive sciences" at the University of Vienna. He looked at scientific laws as summaries of experimental events, constructed for the purpose of making complex data understandable then later emphasized mathematical functions as a more useful way to describe sensory appearances. -
Ernst Mach Death
In 1898 Ernst Mach suffered from cardiac arrest which ended his educational career at the University of Vienna. He then moved in with is son near Munich, Germany where he continued writing until his death, only one day after his 78th birthday.
