Prandtl’s Essentials of Fluid Mechanics

Ludwig Prandtl, with his fundamental contributions to hydrodynamics, aerodynamics and gasdynamics, greatly influenced the development of fluid mechanics as a whole and it was his pioneering research in the first half of the 20th century that founded modern fluid mechanics. His book `Fuhrer durch die Stromungslehre’ or `Essentials of Fluid Mechanics’ appeared in 1942. Even today it is considered one of the most important books in the area.

For this 10th edition the initial chapters, although updated throughout, follow the path marked out by Prandtl in his first edition. The major difference lies in the treatment of additional topics of fluid mechanics and chapters 7-14 were updated by key international researchers in the area bringing the subject up to date whilst keeping Prandtl’s purpose in mind.

Essentials of Fluid Mechanics is aimed at science and engineering students and researchers wishing to obtain an overview of the different branches of fluid mechanics. The book is extensively illustrated throughout and includes problems to aid learning in many chapters.

Reviews of this edition:

`The history of Ludwig Prandtl's book "Essentials of Fluid Mechanics" is one of unique success. It has achieved worldwide fame as a standard work covering practically all areas of fluid mechanics. For this tenth edition the entire text has been reworked and in part rearranged. Those subject areas that are presently undergoing great changes have been brought up to date and new chapters on "Fluid Mechanical Instabilities", "Flows with Chemical Reactions" and "Biofluid Mechanics" have been added. This new edition maintains the successful tradition of the Prandtl book and I hope it will achieve the same global acceptance as the earlier editions.’

Professor E.H. K. Gersten Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Germany

`This 10th edition has been edited and modernized byProfessor H Oertel and a distinguished cadre of his colleagues.The strength of this book is its breadth, which in addition to the basic topics in fluid mechanics introduces the reader to topics rarely found in one place: aerodynamics, turbulence, instabilities, convective heat/mass transport, multiphase reactive, geophysical, and biomechanical flows, as well as thermal turbomachinery. I know of no single place in which one can find such a spectrum of topics, in itself, a tribute to the interests of Prandtl.’

Professor Stephen H Davis, Northwestern University, USA

From the reviews of the second edition:

"The present volume gives a surprisingly homogenous and well-structured exposition of several … branches of fluid mechanics and provides the key references for further studies. Given the difficulty … the result should be regarded as a success. … The range of topics considered in this volume is impressive and physical ideas and principles described and illustrated by a wide range of examples will make this book interesting to students and specialists in various fields." (Dr.Y.D.Shikhmurzaev, Contemporary Physics, (46) 4, 2005)

"This revision … guides the reader through different areas of fluid mechanics by description, without extensive mathematical derivations. The original chapters … are enhanced with sections on the topology of a flow and on flows of non-Newtonian media. … The book, targeted to science and engineering students, offers a solid overview of different branches of fluid mechanics." (Mechanical Engineering, September, 2004)

"Prandtl’s classical text on fluid mechanics … is with good reasons regarded as the best book in the field it covers … . the present book is a thoroughly revised, updated and enlarged new one that in the best possible way takes into account the accumulated body of knowledge in the field of fluid mechanics during the elapsed fifty years. … it is highly recommendable to everyone who is already working in the field of fluid mechanics or just begins to study it." (Tomislav Zlatanovski, Zentralblatt MATH, Vol. 1073, 2005)