A History And Philosophy Of Fluid Mechanics

Through the centuries, the intricacies of fluid mechanics — the study of the laws of motion and fluids in motion — have occupied many of history's greatest minds. In this pioneering account, a distinguished aeronautical scientist presents a history of fluid mechanics focusing on the achievements of the pioneering scientists and thinkers whose inspirations and experiments lay behind the evolution of such disparate devices as irrigation lifts, ocean liners, windmills, fireworks and spacecraft. The author first presents the basics of fluid mechanics, then explores the advances made through the work of such gifted thinkers as Plato, Aristotle, da Vinci, Galileo, Pascal, Newton, Bernoulli, Euler, Lagrange, Ernst Mach and other scientists of the 20th century. Especially important for its illuminating comparison of the development of fluid mechanics in the former Soviet Union with that in the West, the book concludes with studies of transsonic compressibility and aerodynamics, supersonic fluid mechanics, hypersonic gas dynamics and the universal matter-energy continuity. Professor G. A. Tokaty has headed the prestigious Aeronautical Research Laboratory at the Zhukovsky Academy of Aeronautics in Moscow, and has taught at the University of California, Los Angeles. He is Emeritus Professor of Aeronautics and Space Technology, The City University, London.

Fluid Mechanics, as a scientific discipline in a modern sense, was established between the last third of the 17th century and the first half of the 18th century. This book analyses its genesis from two lines: resistance and discharge. This approach highlights the existence of a remarkable experimental aspect in the aforementioned research lines, together with their link with problems of a practical nature, such as ballistics, hydraulics, fluid-using machines or naval theory.

"A remarkable work which will remain a document of the first rank for the historian of mechanics." — Louis de Broglie In this masterful synthesis and summation of the science of mechanics, Rene Dugas, a leading scholar and educator at the famed Ecole Polytechnique in Paris, deals with the evolution of the principles of general mechanics chronologically from their earliest roots in antiquity through the Middle Ages to the revolutionary developments in relativistic mechanics, wave and quantum mechanics of the early 20th century. The present volume is divided into five parts: The first treats of the pioneers in the study of mechanics, from its beginnings up to and including the sixteenth century; the second section discusses the formation of classical mechanics, including the tremendously creative and influential work of Galileo, Huygens and Newton. The third part is devoted to the eighteenth century, in which the organization of mechanics finds its climax in the achievements of Euler, d'Alembert and Lagrange. The fourth part is devoted to classical mechanics after Lagrange. In Part Five, the author undertakes the relativistic revolutions in quantum and wave mechanics. Writing with great clarity and sweep of vision, M. Dugas follows closely the ideas of the great innovators and the texts of their writings. The result is an exceptionally accurate and objective account, especially thorough in its accounts of mechanics in antiquity and the Middle Ages, and the important contributions of Jordanus of Nemore, Jean Buridan, Albert of Saxony, Nicole Oresme, Leonardo da Vinci, and many other key figures. Erudite, comprehensive, replete with penetrating insights, AHistory of Mechanics is an unusually skillful and wide-ranging study that belongs in the library of anyone interested in the history of science.

Prandtl was one of the great theorists of aerodynamics and this work has long been considered one of the finest introductory works in the field. Topics include flow through pipes, Prandtl's own work on boundary layers, drag, airfoil theory, and entry conditions for flow in a pipe.

Geared toward advanced undergraduate and graduate students in applied mathematics, engineering, and the physical sciences, this introductory text covers kinematics, momentum principle, Newtonian fluid, compressibility, and other subjects. 1971 edition.

Fluid mechanics embraces engineering, science, and medicine. This book’s logical organization begins with an introductory chapter summarizing the history of fluid mechanics and then moves on to the essential mathematics and physics needed to understand and work in fluid mechanics. Analytical treatments are based on the Navier-Stokes equations. The book also fully addresses the numerical and experimental methods applied to flows. This text is specifically written to meet the needs of students in engineering and science. Overall, readers get a sound introduction to fluid mechanics.

This book provides the first fully-fledged history of hydrodynamics, including lively accounts of the concrete problems of hydraulics, navigation, blood circulation, meteorology, and aeronautics that motivated the main conceptual innovations. Richly illustrated, technically competent, and philosophically sensitive, it should attract a broad audience and become a standard reference for any one interested in fluid mechanics.

It is over three hundred and fifty years since Torricelli discovered the law obeyed by fountains, yet fluid dynamics remains an active and important branch of physics. This book provides an accessible and comprehensive account of the subject, emphasising throughout the fundamental physical principles, and stressing the connections with other branches of physics. Beginning with a gentle introduction, the book goes on to cover Bernouilli's theorem, compressible flow, potential flow, surface waves, viscosity, vorticity dynamics, thermal convection and instabilities, turbulence, non-Newtonian fluids and the propagation and attenuation of sound in gases. Undergraduate or graduate students in physics or engineering who are taking courses in fluid dynamics will find this book invaluable, but it will also be of great interest to anyone who wants to find out more about this fascinating subject.