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The Beginning
Ernst Mach was born February 18, 1838, in Morovia. -
Blossoming Scientist
At a young age, Mach was inspired by the book written by Immanuel Kant called 'Prolegomena to any Future Metaphysics'. Mach explained that it was this book that started the snowballing of his dedication to his works. This is a massive detail because if Mach was never inspired by this literature, he would not have made the strides he did, or be as well know as he is now for the research he has done. -
Mach Bands
The Mach Bands (lateral inhibition) in the picture shows one of the earliest discoveries made by Mach. His discovery aided in finding errors in radiology that attributed to the better development in mamograms. They are inflections of color gradient appearing at different points in an image. The discovery allowed for arguments of theories of perception, because before optical illusions were just known as errors of the eye. -
Monism
Mach contributed to a society called Monistenbund which allowed people, scientists, and observers to come together with beliefs that there is one consistent reality. Haeckel and Ostwald were also contributors to the society and advocated for Mach to becomes president in 1912. Mach recognized the fragileness of the theology of the society and beliefs and denied the request knowing that the name of Monists would most definitely be misconstrued. -
The End
Ernst Mach died from a stroke in Munich, Germany. -
Works Cited
Pojman, Paul. “Ernst Mach.” Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy, Stanford University, 3 Mar. 2019, plato.stanford.edu/entries/ernst-mach/.