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Birth
Born in Brno, Moravia, Austrian Empire (present day Czech Republic) Mach was baptized. Mach later became a socialist and an atheist, but his theory and life was sometimes compared to Buddhism.
At an early age, Mach was home schooled. He studied elsewhere for three years before joining the University of Vienna in 1855. There he studied physics and received his doctorate in physics in 1860 and his habilitation the following year. -
Philosophical/Physiological work
In his historico-philosophical studies, Mach developed a phenomenalistic philosophy of science that became influential in the 19th and 20th centuries. Called “Emporium-criticism", which Mach Claimed that “all we can know is our sensations and that knowledge should be confined to pure experience”.(Mach) He did gain criticism “Mach's philosophy led to solipsism and to the absurd conclusion that nature did not exist before humans.”, (Vladimir Lenin) -
Mach Number
In 1885, Mach had worked out the details of supersonic motion. Most importantly for engineers, Mach Number is the ratio of the speed of the object to the speed of sound in the given medium. Speed of sound as Mach’s number, a dimensionless quantity rather than a unit of measure, the number comes after the unit; the second Mach number is Mach 2 instead of 2 Mach (or Machs).(Mach number, Wikipedia). The Mach number being named in honor of Ernst Mach. -
Mach principle
What some may consider Ernst Machs most famed work. Mach’s principle (1916) it can be summarized with a general statement, "local physical laws are determined by the large-scale structure of the universe".(Mach’s Principle, Wikipedia) The principle was a guiding factor for Einstein's' development on his Theory of Relativity. The link at the end of this paragraph will help others understand better the Mach principle. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cPEwkMHRjZU -
Mach Wave
Mach's research in physics involved his description and photographs of spark shockwaves and then ballistic shockwaves. "He described how when a bullet or shell moved faster than the speed of sound, it created a compression of air in front of it. Using Schlieren photography, he and his son Ludwig photographed the shadows of the invisible shock waves."(Ernst Mach, Wikipedia) -
Death
Physicist/philosopher Ernest Mach’s contributions will influence many scientist’s research, even after his passing due to the massive variety of his work. In the link below will be a list of all his papers and theories. -
Citations
“Ernst Mach.” Wikipedia, 7 June 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Mach“Mach number.” Wikipedia, 23 June 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach_number
“Mach's principle.” Wikipedia, 31 March 2022, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mach%27s_principle
“Ernst Mach” Paul Pojman, Wed May 21, 2008; substantive revision Sun Mar 3, 2019,https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/ernst-mach/