282
DOC.
29 ERNST
MACH
Published
in
Physikalische Zeitschrift 17
(1916):
101-104. Received
14
March
1916, pub-
lished
1
April
1916.
[1]Ernst
Mach,
Professor Emeritus of
History
and
Theory
of the Inductive Sciences
at
the
University
of
Vienna,
died
on
19 February
1916
at
the
age
of 78. Einstein later commented
disparagingly
about this
obituary:
"It
is
not really good;
my
style
is
laborious and
wooden,
my
knowledge
of the literature
is
meager"
("Es
ist nicht
gerade gut;
mein Stil ist
schwerfällig
und
hölzern,
meine Litteraturkenntnis
dürftig."
Einstein
to Katja
Adler, 20
February
1917).
[2]In 1909
Einstein made
a
similar
remark,
explicitly mentioning
Max
Planck
as one
of
Mach's
opponents
who had nevertheless been
strongly
influenced
by
him
(see
Einstein
to
Ernst
Mach, 9
August
1909
[Vol.
5,
Doc.
174]).
[3]Mach
1897.
[4]On
many
occasions
Einstein
emphasized
the
importance
of Mach's
analysis in
his discus-
sions of
the
problem
of accelerated motion
in
the
context
of
relativity theory;
see, e.g.,
Einstein
1914h
(Vol. 4,
Doc.
31), pp.
344-346, Einstein 1914o
(Doc.
9), pp.
1031-1032,
and Einstein
1916e,
pp.
771-772,
where
he
also discusses
a
thought-experiment inspired
by
Mach's cri-
tique.
See
Einstein
to
Ernst
Mach, 25
June
1913,
and second half of December
1913
(Vol. 5,
Docs.
448
and
495),
and Einstein
to H. A. Lorentz, 14
August
1913
(Vol. 5,
Doc.
467),
for Ein-
stein's
praise
of Mach's work
on
the foundations of
mechanics;
see
also
Vol.
4,
the editorial
note,
"Einstein
on
Gravitation and
Relativity:
The Static
Field,"
p.
127,
Barbour
1992,
and
Hoefer
1994 for
a
discussion of the role Mach's
critique
of Newton
played
in
Einstein's devel-
opment
of
general relativity.
[5]In
the
preface-dated
July
1913-to
Mach
1921 (which
was
published posthumously),
Mach
expresses
himself
in
negative terms on
the
theory
of
relativity
(see
Blackmore 1988 and
Holton
1992
for
general
discussions of Mach's attitude toward
relativity; see
also
Wolters
1987,
in which the
authenticity
of the
preface
is
disputed).
Not
only
was
Mach critical of rel-
ativity,
he
was
also
a
declared
opponent
of atomism until the end of his
life-a
fact that
was
awkward
for
Einstein but
is
not
touched
upon
in
this
obituary (see
Klein 1986 for
a
discussion
of
Mach's
views
on
atomism and his relations
to
Einstein;
see
also Holton
1988, chap. 7,
for
a
discussion of Mach's influence
on
Einstein).
[6]In 1922,
perhaps disappointed
by
the
preface to
Mach
1921
(see
the
preceding note),
Ein-
stein
expressed
himself
more
critically,
when he said: "Mach
was as
good
a
scholar of mechan-
ics
as
he
was a
deplorable philosopher" ("Autant
Mach fut
un
bon
mecanicien,
autant
il
fut
un
deplorable
philosophe."
Becquerel
et
al. 1922,
p. 112).
[7]See
Mach
1903.
[8]The
last
sentences
of Mach 1898
(republished
in
German
in
Mach
1903)
are:
"Let the hate
of
races
and of nationalities
run
riot
as
it
may,
the intercourse of nations will still increase and
grow
more
intimate.
By
the side of the
problems
which
separate
nations,
the
great
and
common
ideals which claim the exclusive
powers
of the
men
of
the future
appear
one
after another
in
greater
distinctness and
in greater might."