Author Description

The first of its kind, this book is an in-depth history of hydrodynamics from its eighteenth-century foundation to its first major successes in twentieth-century hydraulics and aeronautics. This book documents the foundational role of fluid mechanics in developing a new mathematical physics. It gives full and clear accounts of the conceptual breakthroughs of physicists and engineers who tried to meet challenges in the practical worlds of hydraulics, navigation, blood circulation, meteorology, and aeronautics. This text also shows how hydrodynamics began to fulfill its early promise to unify the different worlds of flow.