Theoretical Aerodynamics

Abstract

AERODYNAMICS is the science of the motion of gases and is of great intrinsic interest ; but the present importance of the science lies largely in its applications, for it provides the rational basis for the design of aircraft. The subject is growing rapidly and is already so large that it cannot be adequately covered, even at an elementary level, in a single text-book. Some of the major branches are : theory of aerofoils and of control surfaces, the boundary layer, turbulent flow, flow at speeds near and above the speed of sound, flow at extremely low pressures, heat transfer, theory of aircraft performance, theory of the stability, control and flutter of aircraft, aerodynamics of propulsion including the internal aerodynamics of propelling machinery. However, the theory of the irrotational or ‘potential' flow of fluids about aerofoils holds a central position in applied aerodynamics, and it is based on classical hydrodynamics. The book now under review is almost wholly concerned with the theory of aerofoils and with the hydrodynamic basis. The subjects of viscosity and turbulence are not seriously discussed.

Theoretical Aerodynamics

By Prof. L. M. Milne-Thomson. Pp. xix + 363. (London: Macmillan and Co., Ltd., 1948.) 40s. net.