  Mach was highly influenced by Johann Herbart during this period, not only through Herbart’s writings, but also through Franz Lott, Vienna’s Herbartian spokesperson and Mach’s good friend. In Herbart, Mach found a mechanical approach to psychology and physiology that coincided with Mach’s early acceptance of atomism. As his interests shifted to physiology and psychology, the mechanical models remained, but the atomism became less important. Eventually, the mechanical approach to physiology gave way to an evolutionary approach, and as the mechanical approach lost ground here atomism did as well. This trend increased the deeper Mach went into psychophysics, and eventually turned into an anti-mechanistic philosophy in Mach’s mature thought. Mach makes little mention of Herbart in his later writings; for instance, only two brief references are made to Herbart in Analysis of Sensations, both in the context of reflections on his intellectual development.