Ernst Mach Ernst Mach Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach (; ; 18 February 1838 – 19 February 1916) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher, noted for his contributions to physics such as study of shock waves. The ratio of one's speed to that of sound is named the Mach number in his honor. As a philosopher of science, he was a major influence on logical positivism and American pragmatism. Through his criticism of Newton's theories of space and time, he foreshadowed Einstein's theory of relativity. Ernst Waldfried Josef Wenzel Mach was born in Chrlice (), Moravia (then in the Austrian empire, now
Alexander Mach Alexander Mach Alexander Mach (11 October 1902 in Slovenský Meder (today Palárikovo) – 15 October 1980 in Bratislava) was a Slovak nationalist politician. Mach was associated with the far right wing of Slovak nationalism and became noted for his strong support of Nazism and Germany. Mach joined the Slovak People's Party at an early age and came to prominence within that movement as an aide to Vojtech Tuka. Under Tuka's tutelage Mach served as editor of the party organs "Slovak" and "Slovenska Pravda" and was appointed to the party's political committee in 1924. He belonged to the non-clerical wing of