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Ernst Mach

thc auilior was a philosophical amatcur and obviously did not know what hc was talking about. Mach took thc advicc, lost intcrcst in socialism, and allowcd V. I. Lenin’s book, Matcriatism and Empirio-Criticism (1909), to circulatc unchallcngcd. Mach dicd before this mis-takc could be corrcctcd, and cvcn Lenin probably ncvcr anticipated at that time how much his book would cvcntually contribute to thc uprooting of Mach’s philosophical influence from Eastcrn Europę and other countrics which havc sińce cornc under Communist control.

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Ernst Mach’s influence in Russia started early with an appreciation for his scientific work and middlc school textbooks but rcachcd its zenith with the bitter philosophical controversies of 1909 and 1910 (sce chap. 10).

G. V. Osnobschin came from Moscow to work and learn in Mach’s Prague laboratory in 1875. Hc collaborated with Mach on a number of experiments conccrning spark shock wavcs and soot dispersion pat* terns.²⁰ Eight years latcr lic wrote a letter describing his appreciation for Mach’s friendly assistancc and for all that hc had learned in Prague.²¹

Bruno Kolbe wrote from St. Anne’s School in St. Petersburg in 1891 that he had introduced Mach’s textbook An Outline of Natnral Science into his classes with great succcss.²² Odicr Russian tcachers werc cqually enthusiastic. In 1892 Colonel Zindebcrg wrote from Simbirsk that he had bcen strongly impressed by Machs Tcxtbooi( for P/iysics Stttdents and would he be kind cnough to recommcnd an equally cxccllcnt tcxtbook on cosmology for thc upper classes of thc Russian Corps of Cadcts.²³ Thrcc years latcr work was in progress on a piratc iranslation of at least one of Mach’s tcxtbooks.^2ł

In 1895 thc Russian scientist and postał oflicial, Scrgei von Koschlia* kov, appealed to Mach for information on how to improvc Russian photographic technique sińce Russian photographs commonly scemed to bc undcrexposed.²⁵

At this time Mach began his long correspondcncc with thc rcmark* ablc Russian cngincer-philosophcr, Peter Klcmcntich von Engclmeyer. The correspondcncc began from Paris whcrc thc Russian informed Mach of his influence in France, shifted to Prague whcrc Engclmeyer’s wife was an opera singer, and continucd for another fifteen years from

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Moscow whcrc thc Russian owned a factory, wrote philosophy books, and published manuals on autornobiles and automobile repair. Engel-meyer was sulTicicntly multilingual, to w'ritc and publish articlcs in Frcnch, German, and Russian. I le was also a prominent delegate at thc Bologna World Philosophical Congress in 1911. Engclmeyer dc-seribed Machs influence on Russian scientists and intcllcctuals in a letter dated March 28, 1900:

I havc bccomc acquainted with a number of your admirers in Moscow and Petersburg. The philosopher Filippov [Petersburg] is giving a scrics of articlcs on your cpistcmology in the Russian raagazinc Scientific Re-vietv. Professor Umov [Moscow] is interested in your spark-photography and a short time ago demonstrated bcforc his students and thc generał pub-lic Ludwigs continuation of your work. Professor Zht<\ous\y studics wind rcsistancc, which is my wcakncss, and at thc moment possesses all of the materiał from both "Machs” [Ernst and Ludwig] which 1 reccivcd from you. Also, it was hc who first directcd my attention to your book on mc-chanics. Professor Von Stein, dircctor of thc car clinic herc, has madę your ccnirifugc into a diagnostic tool.

Engelmcycr was nlso rcsponsible for cdiling and arranging for pub-lication thc first Russian translation of Mach’s philosophical idcas. The book was a collcction of chaptcrs of a primarily philosophical contcnt taken from two of Mach’s Works.²® But in spite of this unusual ap-proach it stimulatcd Russian interest and soon led to thc translation into Russian and publication of all of Mach’s philosophy books.^2,

Engclmeyer saw hopeful prospeets both for Russia and Mach’s philosophy in a letter written to Mach on March 2, 1906:

The intcllectual situation in Russia is very favorable for thc acccptancc of your vicws—naturally not at thc immediate mement when politics is cvcrything—On thc other hand, 1 consider myself fortunatc to be a part of this historical period [i.c., of thc short-livcd Russian rcvolution of igos-1906]. Yet, I mcrcly bchavc as a spcctator; first, bccausc I arn a bad poli-tician, and sccond, hccause I cannot find the time.

Engclmeyer did find thc time, howcvcr, in 1910 to organize a Moscow-hased Sonety for Positivism which includcd ten to twenty leading professors and Moscow intclligcntsia among its membcrs.^2s I Ic evcn established Mach as a kind of spiritual patron. We do not know thc eventual fate of thc society, but Engelmeyer himself becamc involvcd in a conflict betwccn narrow and broad definition positivism and left thc organization in 1912:

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