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The Life of Ernst Mach
Ernst Mach was born February 18th 1838 in the Modern Day Czech Republic. His father was educated at the university of Prague and was the tutor to a royal family. His mother was an artist who enjoyed poetry and music. Home. Famous Scientists. (n.d.). Retrieved January 23, 2022, from https://www.famousscientists.org/ernst-mach/ -
Earning his Doctorate
In 1860 Mach earned his Doctorate in physics. He wrote his thesis on "Electrical Charge and Induction". He did this all while studying at the university of Vienna. -
Mach's Bands
While working as a professor at the University of Graz in Austria Mach developed the idea of Mach's bands. These are the dark bands on the outer edges of a gradient and light bands on inner gradients. He stated that this was an optical allusion due to contrast perception. This became very important later on by potentially falsifying thee previously recognized representationalist theories of perception. -
The Inner Ear
In 1873 Mach simultaneously with physician Joseph Breuer discovered a non-acoustic structure in the inner ear responsible for balance. Today it is known as the vestibular system. -
Mach's Principle
Mach's possibly most influential came when he challenged the Newtonian theory of space and time. He published these critiques in his writing "The Science of Mechanics" which was published in 1907. It was highly influential for its time. It was until much later that Einstein credited Mach and coined the paper "Mach's principle". -
The Death of Ernst Mach
Mach retired from the university of Vienna in 1901 after returning in 1895. Mach suffered from a serious stroke leaving half of his body paralyzed. After of which he moved in to the home of one of his sons. He lived there writing and corresponding until his death in 1916.