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Birth
An Austrian Philosopher and physicist is born in Brno, Czechia.
Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach -
Early Education
Mach received home schooling until age 14 then briefly went to high school until age 17 when he entered the University of Vienna where he earned his doctorate in Physics. (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica And Erik-Gregersen. Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist. Britannica.com. WEB. 20July1998.) -
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Influencing Philosophy
Mach’s studies and explanations of physiology and psychology drew many connections to his philosophical views, his persistent anti-metaphysical and intense epistemological attitude, questioned many current theories and principles which later influenced philosophers such as Einstein. Ernst Mach was much more than a Philosopher, believing that a broader spectrum of connection must exist. -
Mach’s Bands
In the late 1865 Mach published, “On the effect of the spatial distribution of the light stimulus on the retina”. (Pojman, Paul, "Ernst Mach", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2019 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2019/entries/ernst-mach/.) The physiological occurrence was been named “Mach’s Bands.” (The Editors of Encyclopedia Britannica And Erik-Gregersen. Ernst Mach, Austrian physicist. Britannica.com. WEB. 20July1998.) -
Empiricism and Evolution
Mach believed evolution was the key to our level of knowledge, and that our developed senses, abilities in thought processing and how our cultures grow have a strong evolutionary history all their own. Believing that our early responses and experiences compounded onto each other and aided primarily in our evolution. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ernst-mach/#MacBan -
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His Final Years
Mach returned as a professor of inductive philosophy at The University of Vienna, retiring six years later. Mach was appointed to the Austrian parliament and He continued to lecture and write in retirement. Ernst Mach passed away February 19th 1916. His last name, ‘Mach’; is now used as the name of the speed of sound. -
A Touch on The Theory of Relativity
In Contributions to the Analysis of the Sensations, Mach explains the concept that all knowledge is derived from sensation, that phenomena under scientific investigation can be understood only in terms of experiences, or “sensations,” present in the observation of the phenomena. Explaining that no statement in natural science is admissible unless it is empirically verifiable. Mach rejected metaphysical concepts as absolute time and space, and prepared the way for the Einstein relativity theory. -
Mach’s Physical Principle
Mach’s principle, that inertia (the tendency of a body at rest to remain at rest and of a body in motion to continue in motion in the same direction) results from a relationship of that object with all the rest of the matter in the universe. Inertia, Mach argued, applies only as a function of the interaction between one body and other bodies in the universe, even at enormous distances. Mach’s inertial theories were cited by Einstein as one of the inspirations for his theories of relativity.