August Toepler -- the first who visualized shock waves (Q1905643)

Shock waves are supersonic phenomena and to investigate and analyze their nature a fast and objective measuring technique is required. The scientific investigation of the nature of shock waves started 130 years ago with the advent of the schlieren method which was developed in the period 1859-1864 by August Toepler. \(\dots\) Based on a large number of original documents, the paper illuminates the concomitant circumstances of the invention of the schlieren method and its first applications by others.