Customer Reviews

Life in Moving Fluids

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

 

 

Less technical than engineering texts, this gives a better introduction to fluid mechanics, by being less obsessed with mathematical analysis (and yet it doesn't skip the math). I would heartily recommend the book to life scientists interested in an engineering understanding, and engineers interested in expanding their awareness to biological systems.

"Life in Moving Fluids" is a well-written and entertaining, as well as technically accurate, introduction to the behavior of fluids. It explains many of the concepts of fluid dynamics in terms of biological examples, and is my first choice of book to recommend to biologists who want to understand the design and behavior of a wide range of plants and animals that live, as most do, in moving air or water -- our two most common fluids.

That would be quite enough distinction for a book, but the utility of Vogel's book goes farther: it is one of the best introductions to the subject of fluid dynamics for those interested in physics, such as the nature of lift and drag, or the design of buildings or wind tunnels (sometimes the same thing). It also is helpful in physical chemistry where diffusion and convection must be understood -- to say nothing of how fluids move through the pipes and junctures of our equipment.

I was inspired to write this review because I had just recommended the book to a colleague who was designing a wind tunnel to work at Reynolds numbers in the 10,000 range and whose previous sources were from aerodynamicists, whose designs are generally not appropriate at this scale. If you don't know what a Reynolds number is or why it is interesting, this book has the best explanation I've seen. It does not assume that you remember much, it teaches what you need as it goes along.

Many are the times I've recommended "Life in Moving Fluids" to students and co-workers, and in each case, I have been warmly thanked. This review allows me to thank Dr. Vogel in a practical manner for his outstanding book. He also has a penchant for the occasional pun and keeps a light tone throughout, which makes the book suitable as pleasure reading for those who enjoy the popular science magazines, but don't mind a bit more depth.

If you work in fields where fluid dynamics counts (see the section on prairie squirrels), or just fly model planes, the book is also a handy refresher/reference work. It'll blow you away.

This is really an excellent book for understanding basic fluid mechanics and physics. Profesor Vogel is a gifted writer and provides a real understanding of the various parameters and equations in fluid flow such as viscosity and turbulance. He writes in a very readable and fun style that makes it much more interesting to read then any standard textbook. And of course his insights into how animals and insects have evolved to take advantage of various fluid environment is the strength of the book. I think if this this book was used in more introductory physics classes that more kids would be turned on to physics because they see the application in the natural world. I highly recommended.

This is a great book to start with when getting in to the field of bio-fluid dynamics. Not only does it explain the basic concepts of fluid dynamics, but it also illustrates a large number of cases where the life different plants and animals are affected by the fluids of their environment and their interior.

I bought this book for my personal collection after frequently using an older edition my professor had. Once I got my copy I was rather dissapointed to realize the section on measuring flow and thermistor construction (the section I REALLY wanted the book for) was not included. There was basically a brief statement saying it could be found in the older edition, but was not included in this one. Bummer.

This book is awesome! It is well written, and explains complex concepts in simple language. Steven Vogel is an excellent writer. This book got me through some of my graduate work!

A good introduction to aspects of fluid dynamics among living creatures such as plants and animals. Generally the book covers the material well with good explanations although I found that at times the concepts demonstrated were very well explained and at others not so well. Some of these fluid dynamical ideas are quite non-intuitive and I feel that a course covering this material really requires experiments to give the student a feel for the movements inherent in fluids and the various forces which act to produce the types of drag or filter feeding etc. Naturally such a course could use this book as a theoretical introduction along with maybe some sort of lab manual accompanying it. I did feel that it would have been good to have this together in one text rather than spread over two or more. Having said this I must note that this book is probably not intended in this way and possibly fits into the niche left open by the gap between a serious student text and an introduction which can be read purely for interest's sake as I did. It accomplished this second task quite well maintaining interest even though it dealt in mechanical laws and left out much of the biology, which would, if not directly, have added to the explanation offered yet, provide a link both as a source of the physics and as a means to connect the now separate streams of physics and biology, which is unfortunately nowadays always considered as completely disconnected. Darcy Thomson would have been dismayed at this process. Nonetheless some very beautiful drawings accompany the book and provide much needed sense of the plant and animal world. Altogether a fine introduction.

Full disclosure: shortly after reading the first edition of this book, I began a correspondence with its author that lead to my becoming one of his graduate students at Duke. I saw and commented on most chapters of the second edition while it was being written, and my name appears in the Acknowledgments page.

While many books have influenced me, the first edition of this one played an especially key role in my career. It was the main reason I chose to become one of Vogel's graduate students at Duke, where I got my doctorate but ALSO met my wife. Later it was through my wife that I wound up a postdoc at Yale, which in turn led me to my current job. So that one book had a tremendous effect on my work and life.

Therefore I cannot be entirely objective about the second edition of this book. For the prose, the science, and the author I have tremendous admiration.

I needed this book for a class. This book is rich in biology and fluid mechanics that it was way over my head. My professor explained things that we needed to know much simplier than this book did.