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Article

Thirty years of fluid dynamics

SEP 01, 1978
Physicists have made great progress both on fundamental problems, such as turbulence and statistical mechanics, and on many applications, including aerodynamics and the study of geophysical flows.
Raymond J. Emrich
François N. Frenkiel
J. Robert Dorfman
Wayland C. Griffith
George Veronis

Interest in fluid dynamics as a separate field of physics with its own set of problems came about largely as a result of experiences during World War II. Until that time, the various events occurring in fluids were usually thought of as problems in mathematics or engineering. During the war years, however, the relations among phenomena such as turbulence, explosions, shock waves and supersonic aerodynamics were recognized, and physicists began to consider them again from the point of view of their own science. In 1947, the Division of Fluid Dynamics was established within The American Physical Society.

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More about the authors

Raymond J. Emrich, Lehigh University, Bethlehem, Pa..

François N. Frenkiel, US Naval Research and Development Center, Bethesda, Md.

J. Robert Dorfman, University of Maryland, College Park.

Wayland C. Griffith, North Carolina State University, Raleigh.

George Veronis, Yale University.

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This Content Appeared In
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Volume 31, Number 9

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