Ernst Mach

Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach was a Czech physicist and philosopher, who contributed to the physics of shock waves. The ratio of the speed of a flow or object to that of sound is named the Mach number in his honour. As a philosopher of science, he was a major influence on logical positivism and American pragmatism. Through his criticism of Isaac Newton's theories of space and time, he foreshadowed Albert Einstein's theory of relativity.

18 February 1838

Born on the same birth day (18 February): Charles-Irénée Castel de Saint-Pierre • Cybill Shepherd • Henri Laurens • Ike Barinholtz • Jaime Jaquez Jr. • Kentavious Caldwell-Pope • Kyle Weaver • Lisa See • Louis Comfort Tiffany • Luis Muñoz Marín • Marie Champmeslé • Martin Marinčin • Matt Dillon • Michael Buerk • Monica Aksamit • Sarah Sutherland • Sebastian Neumann

Born in the same month (February 1838): Henry Adams • Henry Irving • Lydia Thompson • Margaret E. Knight • Yisrael Meir Kagan