Topics in Fluid Mechanics [Paperback]

This book offers a novel but unified treatment of an established subject. Rather than describe the standard topics in fluid mechanics in traditional form, the book presents each topic as part of a wider class of problems so that a unity of concepts is emphasized over a unity of material.A novel but unified treatment of fluid mechanics presents each topic as part of a wider class of problems so that a unity of concepts is emphasized over a unity of material. Specialized subjects of interest such as chaotic advection, chaos and the onset of turbulence are given particular attention.A novel but unified treatment of fluid mechanics presents each topic as part of a wider class of problems so that a unity of concepts is emphasized over a unity of material. Specialized subjects of interest such as chaotic advection, chaos and the onset of turbulence are given particular attention.The book offers a novel but unified treatment of an established subject. It presents each topic as part of a wider class of problems so that a unity of concepts is emphasized over a unity of material. The authors aim for simplicity in presentation, stressing physical understanding over mathematical development. Specialized subjects such as chaotic advection, chaos and the onset of turbulence--problems that are being tackled in research and industry now--are given particular attention.Preface; Notation; 1. Basic concepts; 2. Towards a constitutive law for fluid materials; 3. Vorticity laws; 4. Fundamental concepts of turbulence; 5. Dynamical systems and chaotic advection; 6. Chaos and the onset of turbulence; 7. Boundary layer theory; 8. Wave propagation; 9. Fundamentals of classical thermodynamics; Appendices; Index.