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Birth through College
Born on Feb 18, 1838, Mach was home schooled until age 14 and then went to "high school". At age 17 (1855) Mach attended the University of Vienna and received his doctorate in 1860 with a thesis "On electrical charge and induction" (famousscientists.org) -
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Ernst Mach Careers
Mach's career started at the University of Vienna in 1860. He taught mathematics & physics while studying acoustics and the Doppler Effect in optics. Mach became a Professor of Mathematics at the University of Graz in Austria in 1864. Mach switched to be the Professor of Physics in 1866. In 1867 Mach became the chair of Experimental Physics at Charles University in Prague. 28 years later Mach returned to the University of Vienna as Professor of Inductive Philosophy until he retired in 1901. -
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Mach's family life to death
Mach was married to Ludovica Marussig in 1867 and they had a daughter and four sons together. After a stroke in 1897 Mach's right side was paralyzed. Upon his retirement in 1901, Mach was appointed to the upper chamber of the Austrian Parliament. Mach published an autobiography in 1910. From 1913 to his death in 1916, Mach lived with his son in Vaterstetten, where he continued his writing and corresponding. (https://www.famousscientists.org/ernst-mach/) -
Wrote "Analysis of Sensations"
Mach's book called "Analysis of Sensations" was the basis of his Gestalt theory. -
The principles of Supersonics and the Mach number
Mach had recorded a bullet projectile's flight for the first time in history, with pictures. In 1887, Mach and Salcher published the results of the experiment titled "Photographische Fixirung der durch Projectile in der Luft eingeleiteten Vorgänge (Photographic recording of phenomena caused by the flight of projectiles through the air)". It published with the mathematical formula that described the physics of the shock wave, the ratio of the velocity of an object to the velocity of sound. -
Mach "number" the term for the ratio
The ratio of an object's speed to the speed of sound was becoming more significant in aerodynamics studies. The Mach number was suggested as the term for this ratio in 1929 by J. Ackeret. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLrHnndL3D4