Professor in Stuttgart

Theory and practice have to go hand in hand ...

Bach criticised the contrast between theory and practice in Mechanical Engineering. This was visible in the fact that teaching was divided into "Practical Mechanical Engineering" and "Theoretical Mechanical Science". The teaching staff passed the subject matter they wouldn't or couldn't teach on to their "practical" colleagues, and vice versa. Bach made a major contribution to to overcoming this dispute by bringing theory and practice together.

The position of mathematics in engineering training was a further point of dispute at the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century. The training provided by Mathematics professors wasn't sufficiently oriented towards engineers' future career needs. Bach took on the role of a mediator in this dispute too. He worked in various committees (composed of mathematicians and engineers) that dealt with training matters. In Stuttgart he introduced a supplementary introductory lecture on further mathematics for mechanical engineers, in addition to the existing lecture on further maths.

"Where a contrast between science and practice appears, a close examination usually soon shows that either the fundamental assumptions the scientific observation was based on are incorrect, or that the conclusions drawn are flawed. From the very beginning, that is to say, from when I began teaching in the year 1878, I have made it my task to make my modest contribution to removing contrasts of this kind. Science and applied technology must go hand in hand by their very nature. Wherever this state does not exist, both parties have to work with ardour and perseverance to bring it about."