Customer Reviews

Fluid Mechanics

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

The Book is quite ok for introductory courses as well as applications in Hydraulics. It is biased towards civil engineering and in my opinion is a book worthy to purchase.

Okay, I am an engineer who suffered this book through three- count 'em- fluid mehcanics subjects (Fluids I, II and yes, you guessed it, III! ah the pretentions of roman numerals should have warned me...alas I digress...)

Okay the fact is with this book you need three things to make it work: 1) a damn good lecturer, 2) Some effort to do the problems and 3)Schaum's solved problems in fluid mechanics or something similiar.

I do disagree that it is impossible. Or REALLY hard or written to impress his professor friends...it just requires some thought...Like anything of a less common nature...less people are going to understand it. That's the nature of the beast! Sure there are many places where it falls down...particularly in the first three chapters. But later on it becomes quite good. From chapter 3 onwards it is a useful work, particularly in Part 2 on applications of fluid mechanics.

Covers: fluid propoerties (very briefly!), Fluid statics (need the ability to do vectors to be able to do this chapter!), Fluid flow (calculus required!). Dimensional Similitude (this is cool stuff...), Fluid resistance, Compressible flow and Ideal fluid flow...comprise part 1. Part 2 is Fluid Measurement (ie. Weirs, Turbulence, viscosity, pressure, orifices...etc), Turbomachinery, Closed conduit flow, Open channel flow (not bad either), unsteady flow (good old waterhammer! How to stop water hammer when you turn on a tap/faucet...turn on another one at the same time of the same heat- hot or cold!) and some appendices on mathematical techniques: SImpsons rule, Bisection method, Newton-Raphson, Runge-Kutta and physical propoerties of some fluids. Answers (not worked) are provided from even numbered questions.

Put it this way: if you can work through this book then you KNOW you understand fluid mechanics, so in that respect it gets a third star: it's a good yardstick of your ability. But for all that it is very disheartening, as it always is, to learn that one may not be a clever as one things one is and this is a book to expose shortcomings such as these. COnsider a challenge book: like everest...see the hill take the hill and then jeer it because you've bested it. Guess this book just takes that kind of person: pesistant, dogged and damn sure not to let it beat them.

If you're a casual learner or not so keen on challenger yourself with something so tragic as fluid mechanics...avoid this book like the plague because you'll waste your money and probably damage something when you hurl the book with frustration!

Hope that helps...:)

This book is not good at all FOR STUDENTS. The organization is confusing and mathematics used to derive the equation does not show any physical meaning. Examples given are confusing and misleading. Avoid this book at any cost.

This book is horrible. If you are any where near being a hands on engineer then this is not the book for you. I have just started taking the class that requires this text and already everyone in my class is stumped. First homework assignment class average 1/10. How sad is that. Aviod this book at all cost.

This book does seem to cover material in reasonable detail which makes for a better understanding of the basic concepts. Perhaps it could be written more lucidly but I don't think it's as bad as one star. I might change my mind after I read a few more chapters....!

Streeter wrote this book to impress other professors only. The target of this book is for lecturer, not for college students.