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Mathematical Treasure: Ernst Mach's Space and Geometry

Author(s): 
Frank J. Swetz (Pennsylvania State University)

Ernst Mach (1838-1916) was an Austrian physicist and philosopher of science. In this 1906 English language translation of his work, Space and Geometry, Mach drew distinctions between physiological (or psychological) and geometric spaces. In a sense, Mach was joining in the controversies of his time involving conceptions of knowable space.

On these pages Mach discussed conceptions of space arrived at through “sensuous imagination.”

The Special Collections staff at the Linderman Library of Lehigh University in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, is pleased to cooperate with the Mathematical Association of America to exhibit this and other items from the Library’s holdings in “Mathematical Treasures.” In particular, Convergence would like to thank Lois Fischer Black, Curator, Special Collections, and Ilhan Citak, Archives and Special Collections Librarian, for their kind assistance in helping to make this display possible. You may use these images in your classroom; all other uses require permission from the Special Collections staff, Linderman Library, Lehigh University.

Index to Mathematical Treasures

Frank J. Swetz (Pennsylvania State University), "Mathematical Treasure: Ernst Mach's Space and Geometry," Convergence (October 2013)