PROFESSORERXSTMACHIS&S-lOKi
THE;SCIENCEOFMECHANICSACRITICALANDHISTORICALACCOUNTOFITSDEVELOPMENTDR.ERNSTMACHPROFESSOROFTEHISTORYANDTHEORYOFINDUCTIVESCIENCEINTHEUNIVERSITYOFVIENNATRANSLATEDFROMTHEGERMANBYTHOMASJ.McCORMACK\VITirTWOHUNDREDANDFIFTYCUTSANDILLUSTRATIONSFOURTHEDITIONCHICAGOLONDONTHEOPENCOURTPUBLISHINGCO.1919
COPYRIGHT1893,1902,1919BYTilLiOWNCoi'UTPUBLISHINOCOMPANY
TRANSLATOR'SPREFACETOTHESECONDENGLISHEDITION.SINCEtheappearanceofthefirsteditionofthepresenttranslationofMach'sMechanics',*theviewswhichProfessorMachhasadvancedonthephiloso-phyofsciencehavefoundwideandsteadilyincreas-ingacceptance.Manyfruitfulandelucidativecon-troversieshavesprungfromhisdiscussionsofthehistorical,logical,andpsychologicalfoundationsofphysicalscience,andinconsiderationofthegreatidealsuccesswhichhisworkshavelatterlymetwithinContinentalEurope,thetimeseemsripeforastillwiderdisseminationofhisviewsinEnglish-speakingcountries.ThestudyofthehistoryandtheoryofscienceisfindingfullerandfullerrecognitionInouruniversities,anditIstobehopedthatthepresentex-emplarytreatmentofthesimplestandmosttypicalbranch*ofphysicswillstimulate^furtherprogressinthisdirection,Thetextofthepresentedition,whichcontainstheextensiveadditionsmadebytheauthortothe*DieMechanikinihrerEntwickelunghistorisch-kritischdargesiellt.VonDr.ErnstMach,ProfessoranderUniversitatzuWien.Mit257Abbildungen.FirstGermanedition,1883.FourthGermanedition,1901.FirsteditionoftheEnglishtranslation,Chicago,TheOpenCourtPublishingCo.,1893.
viTRANSLATOR'SPREFACM.latestGermaneditions,hasbeenthoroughlyrevisedbythetranslator.Allerrors,eitherofsubstanceortypography,sofarastheyhavecometothetrans-lator'snotice,havebeenremoved,andinmanycasesthephraseologyhasbeenaltered.Thesub-titleoftheworkhas,incompliancewithcertaincriticisms,alsobeenchanged,toaccordmorewiththewordingoftheoriginaltitleandtobringouttheideathattheworktreatsoftheprinciplesofmechanicspredomi-nantlyundertheaspectoftheirdevelopment(Entwicke-lung).Toavoidconfusioninthematterofreferences,themaintitlestandsasinthefirstedition.Theauthor'sadditions,whichareconsiderable,havebeenrelegatedtotheAppendix.Thiscoursehasbeendeemedpreferabletothatofincorporatingtheminthetext,first,becausethenumerousrefer-encesinotherworkstothepagesofthefirsteditionthusholdgoodforthepresenteditionalso,andsec-ondly,becausewithfewexceptionstheadditionsareeithersupplementaryincharacter,orinanswertocriticisms.Alistofthesubjectstreatedinthesead-ditionsisgivenintheTableofContents,undertheheading"Appendix"onpagexix.Specialreference,however,mustbemadetotheadditionsreferringtoHertz'sMechanics(pp.548-555),andtothehistoryofthedevelopmentofProfessorMach'sownphilosophicalandscientificviews,notablytohiscriticismsoftheconceptsofmass,inertia,ab-solutemotion,etc.,onpp.542-547,555574,and579
TJtANSLATOR'SPREFACE.vii-583.Theremarksheremadewillbefoundhighlyelucidative,whilethereferencesgiventotherichlit-eraturedealingwiththehistoryandphilosophyofsciencewillalsobefoundhelpful.Asfortherest,thetextofthepresenteditionofthetranslationisthesameasthatofthefirst.IthashadthesanctionoftheauthorandtheadvantageofrevisionbyMr.C.S.Peirce,wellknownforhisstudiesbothofanalyticalmechanicsandofthehis-toryandlogicofphysics.Mr.PeircereadtheproofsofthefirsteditionandrewroteSec.8inthechapteronUnitsandMeasures,wheretheoriginalwasin-applicabletothesystemcommonlytaughtinthiscounty.THOMASJ.McCoRMACK.LASALLE,ILL.,February,1902.
AUTHOR'SPREFACETOTHETRANS-LATION.Havingreadtheproofsofthepresenttranslationofmywork,DieMechanikinihrerJLntwickeliing,Icantestifythatthepublishershavesuppliedanexcellent,accurate,andfaithfulrenderingofit,astheirprevioustranslationsofessaysofminegavemeeveryreasontoexpect.Mythanksareduetoallconcerned,andespeciallytoMr.McCormack,whoseintelligentcareintheconductofthetranslationhasledtothedis-coveryofmanyerrors,heretoforeoverlooked.Imay,thus,confidentlyhope,thattheriseandgrowthoftheideasofthegreatinquirers,whichitwasmytasktoportray,willappeartomynewpublicindistinctandsharpoutlines.E.MACH.PRAGUE,April8th,1893.