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Birth and Introduction
Ernst Mach was a Austrian physicist and philosopher who made great strides in our understanding of the physics of shockwaves. Mach was born on 18 February in 1838 in Chrlice, Moravia.
His name is often remembered through the Mach number, which is synonymous with supersonic speeds. He is considered a founder of the philosophy of science and his large skepticism of the ideas of “old” physics was important to the next generation of young physicists work, including the famous Albert Einstein. -
The Doppler effect and first Mach Bands-1860’s
In the 1860’s Ernst Mach discovered a new analysis of the existing misunderstandings and ambiguities of sound waves and pointed to the applicability of Doppler's law. In addition to his works, his investigations led to fast-flying projectiles, the first photographs and other optical experiments, such as Newtonian rings and diffractions of light. Using schlieren photography, he and his son photographed the shadows of the invisible shock waves. -
“Mach’s” Principle 1887
One of the best-known and famous ideas of Ernst Mach is the "Mach principle". This principle attempted to explain how rotating objects, such as spinning celestial bodies and gyroscopes, maintained the same frame of reference. This unfortunately wasn’t ever written down by Mach, but was created into a graphic verbal form, by Philipp Frank. Mach's principle was a big guiding influence in Einstein's development of his general theory of relativity. -
1890 Contributions to Physics and Psychology
In the 1890s Mach invented an interferometer that allowed for much clearer photographs of polarized light and phase changes. Mach also made plenty of contributions to physiology and psychology, including gestalt psychology, his continued work on Mach bands and of the oblique effect. He also aided in the discovery of a non-acoustic function of the inner ear that aids in the controlling of different functions of human balance.Educational Video -
Contributions to Philosophy 1900’s
From 1895 to 1901, Mach filled a newly created chair for the position of "the history and philosophy of the inductive sciences" at the University of Vienna. In his philosophical studies, Mach developed a phenomenalistic philosophy of science that became very influential in the 19th and 20th centuries. Mach defended a specific type of phenomenalism which stated only sensations as real. This position seemed incompatible with the view of atoms and molecules as external, mind-independent things. -
Ernst Machs death
Mach, as a professor, philosopher and physicist, whose many contributions to scientists, even after death, showed the great value and influences of his work. The diversity of Mach's passions and contributions is one of the most extraordinary things about him. Mach's work includes: "The Science of Mechanics" (1883), "Popular Scientific lectures" (1895), "Principles of Heat Theory"(1896),Space and Geometry from the Point of View of Physical Inquiry (1903) and "Knowledge and Error" (1976) -
Citations
“Ernst Mach.” Encyclopædia Britannica, Encyclopædia Britannica, Inc., https://www.britannica.com/biography/Ernst-Mach.
Pojman, Paul. “Ernst Mach.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 3 Mar. 2019, https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ernst-mach/.
Staley, Richard. “Ernst Mach on Bodies and Buckets.” Physics Today, American Institute of PhysicsAIP, 1 Dec. 2013, https://physicstoday.scitation.org/doi/10.1063/PT.3.2214.