Customer Reviews

Aerodynamics: Selected Topics in the Light of Their Historical Development (Dover Books on Aeronautical Engineering)

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Long out of print, this gem of a book is once again available thanks to Dover Publications. The text corresponds to the author's Messenger Lectures at Cornell University in the spring of 1953. An overview of the history of aerodynamic thought, aimed at the non-specialist as well as students of aeronautics, the book conveys the essential ideas in our understanding of the science of flight. Written at a time when supersonic flight was but six years old and orbital spaceflight was four years in the future, the book remains remarkably fresh. The text is enlivened by von Karman's wit and reminiscences of many of the greats of twentieth century aerodynamics. The references at the end of each of the six chapters, many extending into the nineteenth century, are a delightful bonus, underlining how our present aerodynamic theory has roots that extend well before the advent of heavier-than-air flight. Only the author's speculation on the potential of spaceflight is dated. Yet even this provides a fascinating window into the mind of one of the masters of aeronautics. Highly recommended.

Nice little book for beach or summer reading for engineers. No formulas, just text, anecdotes and history. A nice little book indeed.

This book was originally published more than 50 years ago. Some things, such as our understanding of supersonic flight and rocketry, have changed quite a bit since that time. However, much of aerodynamics was well understood in the 1950's. This book does what it claims very well. It describes the basics of aerodynamics and provides some history of how our understanding developed.

I also recommend 'Aerodynamics for Naval Aviators', originally published by the US Navy, as another classic book that can provide one with a good foundation, but does not require extensive advanced math.

This was the first aero text book I bought. It was for a freshman engineering orientation class, September 1968. Even at that time, the professor commented it was more for the history in it then for teaching. The professor was a friend of Von Karman and I think we had to buy it for that reason.

For an aerospace orientation course, we could have done much better.