Foreword

Writing a new fluid dynamics textbook is a challenging task. In 1895, Sir Horace Lamb established a very high standard with the first edition of Hydrodynamics. This classical presentation was followed by other excellent introductions into the field of fluid mechanics, among them Landau and Lifshitz, 1959, and Batchelor, 1967. The strength of M.Belevich’s book is in its rigorous and systematic approach to developing the mathematical model of fluid dynamics from the first principles. It carefully explains the underlying hypothesis and simplifications used to establish equations that govern motions of a fluid. Extensive use of vector and tensor analysis results in a compact and generalized narrative, without the restrictions of a particular coordinate system.

This textbook is by no means a comprehensive description of the field of fluid dynamics. Some of important problems (e.g. waves) were deliberately left out of the book’s framework. Since the text is based on a course that is taught to students who specialize in geophysical fluid dynamics, more engineering aspects of fluid mechanics (such as turbomachines and airfoils) are also not covered.

The book’s content not only provides a general description of fluid dynamics, but also teaches how to apply universal principles to build a mathematical model of a particular problem. The distinctive feature of M. Belevich’s book is a somewhat non-standard approach of describing the dynamics of fluid from the point of view of the observer (chapter 15). It allows to underline some physical aspects of fluid mechanics which are usually not explicitly established in most textbooks.

The book is complemented by a carefully selected set of exercises. It provides consistent and self-sustained introduction to fluid dynamics, giving enough details to be used either in class or for self-study. It can be used to acquire knowledge in particular aspects of hydromechanics, and also as a source of inspiration for students, researchers and teachers in the field of classical fluid mechanics.