Author Description

"Fluid mechanics is a rich and fascinating subject, with applications ranging from modelling the environment, to automotive design, to physiology, to astrophysics. At the same time, basic physical phenomena such as turbulence still present fundamental challenges. Conventional textbooks cannot hope to give graduate students more than an inkling of what topics are currently being researched, or how to make a choice between them. This book aims to rectify matters, at least in part. It consists of eleven chapters that each introduces a different branch of the subject. Though not exhaustive, the coverage is broad: thin-film flows, Saffman-Taylor fingering, flows in arteries and veins, convective and absolute instabilities, turbulence, natural convection, magnetohydrodynamics, solidification, geological fluid mechanics, oceanography and atmospheric dynamics are all introduced and reviewed by established authorities. Thus the book will not only be suitable for graduate-level courses but also for specialists seeking introductions to other areas."--Jacket.