Ernst Mach > Quotes

“But we must not forget that all things in the world are connected with one another and depend on one another, and that we ourselves and all our thoughts are also a part of nature. It is utterly beyond our power to measure the changes of things by time. Quite the contrary, time is an abstraction, at which we arrive by means of the change of things; made because we are not restricted to any one definite measure, all being interconnected. A motion is termed uniform in which equal increments of space described correspond to equal increments of space described by some motion with which we form a comparison, as the rotation of the earth. A motion may, with respect to another motion, be uniform. But the question whether a motion is in itself uniform, is senseless. With just as little justice, also, may we speak of an “absolute time” --- of a time independent of change. This absolute time can be measured by comparison with no motion; it has therefore neither a practical nor a scientific value; and no one is justified in saying that he knows aught about it. It is an idle metaphysical conception.”
― Ernst Mach, Science of Mechanics

“Knowledge and error flow from the same mental sources; only success can tell one from the other.”
― Ernst Mach

“To us investigators, the concept 'soul' is irrelevant and a matter for laughter.”
― Ernst Mach, History and Root of the Principle of the Conservation of Energy

“obviously it matters little if we think of the earth as turning about on its axis, or if we view it at rest while the fixed stars revolve around it. Geometrically these are exacly the same case of a relative rotation of the earth and the fixed stars with respect to one another.”
― Ernst Mach

“Nature exists only once. It is only our schematizing reproduction that creates equal cases. It is only in those that there exists mutual dependence of certain qualities.”
― Ernst Mach

“The most important result of our reflections is …that precisely the apparently simplest mechanical theorems are of a very complicated nature; that they are founded on incomplete experiences, even on experiences that never can be fully completed; that in view of the tolerable stability of our environment they are, in fact, practically safeguarded to serve as the foundation of mathematical deduction; but that they by ho means themselves can be regarded as mathematically established truths, but only as theorems that not only admit of constant control by experience but actually require it.”
― Ernst Mach, Die Mechanik in ihrer Entwicklung: Historisch-kritisch dargestellt

“Die Natur ist nur einmal da. Nur unser schematisches Nachbilden erzeugt gleiche Fälle.”
― Ernst Mach

“Anyone who has in mind the gathering up of the sciences into a single whole, has to look for a conception to which he can hold in every department of science. Now if we resolve the whole material world into elements which are at the same time also elements of the psychical world and, as such, are also commonly called sensation, if, further, we regard it as the sole task of science to inquire into the connexion and combination of these elements, which are of the same nature in all departments, and into their mutual dependence on each other; we may then reasonably expect to build a unifed monistic structure upon this conception, and thus to get rid of the distressing confusions of dualism.”
― Ernst Mach

“Il grande scienziato è come un capo di esercito che non si attarda, per ogni postazione strappata ai nemici, a compiere meticolose ricerche sul diritto di occuparla. La grandezza delle imprese da compiere non gliene lascia il tempo. Per coloro che vengono dopo, la cosa è diversa. Newton ha dovuto aspettare che i due secoli a lui successivi esaminassero di nuovo e confermassero i fondamenti dei suoi lavori. Accade infatti che al tempo delle nuove scoperte segua un periodo di maggiore stabilità per le scienze. Allora i principi sono oggetto di un interesse filosofico più vivo che non ciò che è dedotto da essi. Vengono così poste questioni del tipo di quelle qui trattate, alla cui soluzione ci auguriamo di aver dato un piccolo contributo. Condividiamo con l'eminente fisico W. Thomson (Lord Kelvin) la più grande ammirazione per Newton, non però il parere che l'esposizione newtoniana sia ancora oggi la migliore possibile e la più filsofica.”
― Ernst Mach

“Above all there is no Machist philosophy. At most [there is] a scientific methodology and a psychology of knowledge [Erkenntnispsychologie]; and like all scientific theories both are provisional and imperfect efforts. I am not responsible for the philosophy which can be constructed from these with the help of extraneous ingredients….The land of the transcendental is closed to me. And if I make the open confession that its inhabitants are not able at all to excite my curiosity, then you may estimate the wide abyss that exists between me and many philosophers. For this reason I already have declared explicitly that I am by no means a philosopher, but only a scientist. If nevertheless occasionally, and in a somewhat noisy way, I have been listed among the former then I am not responsible for this. Of course, I also do not want to be a scientist who blindly entrusts himself to the guidance of a single philosopher in the way that Moliere’s physician I expected and demanded of his patients.”
― Ernst Mach, Knowledge and Error: Sketches on the Psychology of Enquiry

“Intuitive knowledge of the sort just described impresses itself upon the memory, and makes its appearance in the form of recollections which spontaneously supplement every fact presented by the senses. The various facts are not exactly alike. But the component parts of the sensational presentation which are common to different cases are emphasized, and so we reach a principle which holds a paramount place in memory the principle of broadest possible generalization or continuity. On the other hand, if memory is to do justice to the complexity of facts, and be of real practical use, it must conform to the principle of sufficient differentiation. Even the animal is reminded, by soft, bright red and yellow fruits (seen without exertion on the tree), of their sweet taste, and by green hard fruits (which are seen with difficulty), of their sour taste. The insect-hunting monkey snatches at everything that buzzes and flies, but avoids the yellow and black fly, the wasp. Here we have expressed, distinctly enough, the combined effort for the greatest possible generalization and continuity and lot practically sufficient differentiation of memory. And both ends are attained by the same means, the selection and emphasis of those particular elements of the sensational pre-sentations which are determinative of the direction which the thought must pursue to suit the experience.”
― Ernst Mach, The Analysis of Sensations, and the Relation of the Physical to the Psychical

“Above all there is no Machist philosophy. At most [there is] a scientific methodology and a psychology of knowledge [Erkenntnispsychologie]; and like all scientific theories both are provisional and imperfect efforts. I am not responsible for the philosophy which can be constructed from these with the help of extraneous ingredients... . The land of the transcendental is closed to me.”
― Ernst Mach

“But any one who has in mind the gathering up of the sciences into a single whole, has to look for a conception to which he can hold in every department of science. Now if we resolve the whole material world into elements which at the same time are also elements of the psychical world and, as such, are commonly called sensations ; if, further, we regard it as the sole task of science to inquire into the connexion and combination of these elements, which are of the same nature in all departments, and into their mutual dependence on one another ; we may then reasonably expect to build a unified monistic structure upon this conception, and thus to get rid of the distressing confusions of dualism.”
― Ernst Mach, The Analysis of Sensations, and the Relation of the Physical to the Psychical

“I know of nothing more terrible than the poor creatures who have learned too much. Instead of the sound powerful judgement which would probably have grown up if they had learned nothing, their thoughts creep timidly and hypnotically after words, principles and formulae, constantly by the same paths. What they have acquired is a spider's web of thoughts too weak to furnish sure supports, but complicated enough to provide confusion.”
― Ernst Mach, Popular Scientific Lectures