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Henk Tennekes

The Simple Science of Flight, revised and expanded edition: From Insects to Jumbo Jets (The MIT Press) Paperback – September 4, 2009

by Henk Tennekes (Author)

4.4 74 ratings

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An investigation into how machines and living creatures fly, and of the similarities between butterflies and Boeings, paper airplanes and plovers.

From the smallest gnat to the largest aircraft, all things that fly obey the same aerodynamic principles. In The Simple Science of Flight, Henk Tennekes investigates just how machines and creatures fly: what size wings they need, how much energy is required for their journeys, how they cross deserts and oceans, how they take off, climb, and soar. Fascinated by the similarities between nature and technology, Tennekes offers an introduction to flight that teaches by association. Swans and Boeings differ in numerous ways, but they follow the same aerodynamic principles. Biological evolution and its technical counterpart exhibit exciting parallels. What makes some airplanes successful and others misfits? Why does the Boeing 747 endure but the Concorde now seem a fluke? Tennekes explains the science of flight through comparisons, examples, equations, and anecdotes. The new edition of this popular book has been thoroughly revised and much expanded. Highlights of the new material include a description of the incredible performance of bar-tailed godwits (7,000 miles nonstop from Alaska to New Zealand), an analysis of the convergence of modern jetliners (from both Boeing and Airbus), a discussion of the metabolization of energy featuring Lance Armstrong, a novel treatment of the aerodynamics of drag and trailing vortices, and an emphasis throughout on evolution, in nature and in engineering. Tennekes draws on new evidence on bird migration, new wind-tunnel studies, and data on new airliners. And his analysis of the relative efficiency of planes, trains, and automobiles is newly relevant. (On a cost-per-seat scale, a 747 is more efficient than a passenger car.)

Print length

201 pages
Language

English
Publisher

The MIT Press
Publication date

September 4, 2009
Grade level

12 and up
Reading age

18 years and up
Dimensions

8.86 x 7.1 x 0.56 inches
ISBN-10

9780262513135
ISBN-13

978-0262513135
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Editorial Reviews

Review

"One gets a fine sense of how so much of aircraft design--whether by humans or by evolution--depends on size and mission. This new version of "The Simple Science of Flight" broadens the enlightenment that so many of us found appealing in its predecessor. It yields even more of that satisfying 'now I understand what's happening' rather than the usual 'how brilliant those designers must be.' And I know of no book that derives such an awesome wealth of insight from such simple quantification. Beyond being informative, it provides pleasant reading--for any one who travels by air, watches animals fly, or dreams of learning to fly."--Steven Vogel, James B. Duke Professor, Emeritus, Duke University

"This was a great little book when it came out in its original edition; this new version is even better, as it contains both Henk's homage to his favorite flying machine (Boeing 747) and explanations based on some of the unexpected results of recent experiments with bird flight (including a phenomenal gliding jackdaw). Read it, then watch the birds and planes, and then dip into it again and again."--Vaclav Smil, University of Manitoba, and author of "Global Catastrophes and Trends"

About the Author

Henk Tennekes is Director of Research Emeritus at the Royal Netherlands Meteorological Institute, Emeritus Professor of Meteorology at the Free University (VU) in Amsterdam, and Emeritus Professor of Aerospace Engineering at Pennsylvania State University. He is the coauthor of A First Course in Turbulence (MIT Press, 1972).

Product details

ASIN ‏ : ‎ 0262513137
Publisher ‏ : ‎ The MIT Press; revised and expanded edition (September 4, 2009)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 201 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 9780262513135
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0262513135
Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
Grade level ‏ : ‎ 12 and up
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 14.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 8.86 x 7.1 x 0.56 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #767,851 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #59 in Aerodynamics (Books)
- #250 in Astronautics & Space Flight
- #737 in Aeronautics & Astronautics (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.4 74 ratings

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Customer reviews

4.4 out of 5

74 global ratings

5 star		63%
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3 star		9%
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GearGuy

excellent intro for aero engineering students

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on November 15, 2012

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This is an excellent intro book for those who want to study aerodynamics or aeronautical engineering; for two reasons.
Firstly the author explains many principles and relationships using simple terms; lift, drag, stall, etc. Really easy to understand. Secondly, he uses the METRIC system (kg, m, etc.) in all examples; as one who had to learn all this in the ponderous and illogical Imperial system (pounds, feet, etc.), it was a REAL eye opener how much EASIER all the analyses and conversions are in the metric system. When I'm doing my own 'back of the envelope' calculations these days I always do them in metric units; and I suggest you do also.
The only small weakness in the book would not be noticed by 99.9% of the readership, and I only mention this for those deeply into this subject.. There is some weakness in the author's understanding of actual aeronautics (vs. the mathematics of which he has mastered). For example, he considers the use of Bernouli's principle a "polite fiction" because it can't explain "how planes fly upside down"(1), or "how the sheet-metal blades of a home ventilator or an agricultural windmill work"(2). Well, the first case (1) IS Bernouli because un-cambered symmetrical wings can generate upwards lift while the plane flies upside down but the wing is at a positive angle of attack. In (2) the author is referring to simple kinetic energy transfer, such as water pushing the blades of a water-mill; this is actually not Bernouli's issue in the first place.
Anyway, these small issues do not take away from the book as a whole; in fact the astute reader will simply research more using this book as an excellent, highly recommended intro text. As I've said about other reviews recently; how I wish I had this in college!! Kudo's Mr. Tennekes!

10 people found this helpful

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sandro tropiano

An interesting fly

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 2, 2011

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Agreeable and often gripping reading, this book has popular scientific purposes, keeping strictly scientific in language and showing method: at the start the physical quantities used are defined, then these quantities are put in diagrams to show the relations between them and the author makes these diagrams very telling.
The writing is in general flowing and the communication is forceful but in at least one case it gives rise to some perplexity: ". . . creating a region of reduced pressure on the top surface (a kind of suction), witch pulls the passing air downward." (pg. 5).
In the same paragraph Tennekes rails against the "polite fiction and misapprehension" told by high school teachers to explain the generation of lift. (I am pushed to ask where teachers learn these things?)
The range of arguments touched is very wide: dimensions of wings from insects to big airplanes; long distance migration of several kinds of birds; comparative analysis of energy consumption between birds, cars, trains and jets . . . all explained through the laws of flight introduced in the first chapter. A brief amusing and instructive paragraph is devoted to the stability of a paper airplane.
The amount of figures is very useful for the comprehension and the figures of birds are lovely.
The public target of this book is very wide, and actually the book could be read by everyone, but with some rudiment of physics or with a more deep reading of diagrams you will have more benefit.

Sandro Girolamo Tropiano, member of "Naturalmentescienza.it" editorial staff.

One person found this helpful

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DLC

Difficult book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on April 6, 2022

Verified Purchase

Too technical for the lay person

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 26, 2022

Verified Purchase

Well written, great info. Illustrations are weak, but still a fantastic reference.

Helpful

Amazon Customer

One of My Favorite Books

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on January 18, 2014

Verified Purchase

Henk Tennekes writes a concise and accurate introduction to the physics of flight. This edition has more typographical errors than I expected (some words that were spelled correctly in the first edition are misspelled here) but the additional material he added is most welcome. If it weren't for the typos and the slightly lower quality of the paper and binding of the book, I would rate it five stars, as I do and did the first edition.

3 people found this helpful

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James Cho

For the Birds

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on December 5, 2011

Verified Purchase

This is a bird-focused explanation of flight. The first half of the book is bits of manned-flight history interspersed with numerous silhouettes of birds. Each one has listed its weight, wing area, and span, no doubt drawing from the author's background as a researcher in low-speed/turbulent flows. There's a summary of Paul MacCready's work in human-powered flight (more low-speed) that basically summarizes the book Gossamer Odyssey (Grosser). The last chapter on jetliner design sounds rote and recited by a researcher who has never worked in industry.

There's nothing on rotary-wing aircraft, or on the pure flying wing, and barely a mention of any high-performance fighters. (He applauds General Dynamics for designing the YF-16 to be lightweight, even though it was the USAF's program requirements which dictated that.) The only appendix is a table of bird migration data. This book's subject coverage is just too myopic to the author's area of research. There's great detail on low-speed, small-scale flyers, but not nearly enough on aviation for a work purportedly on the general science of flight.

2 people found this helpful

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Eduardo Canales

awesome book

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 20, 2011

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Haven't read it through but it is really good so far. The author keeps referring to real birds in order to compare to modern jetliners and other man made craft.
It corrects misconceptions on the nature of flight with actual equations that do make sense and boils everything down to how things do work in terms of actual power, force, speed, energy.
A real gem.

3 people found this helpful

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D. Atkinson

This book really pushes the limits of the envelope

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on February 23, 2015

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Many books on aerodynamics cover the standard range of speed, weights etc. Prof. Tennekes extends the range to the limits of the envelope, and provides data for a wide range of birds, insects and extends the equations of flight to ultralights and the human powered Gossamer Condor

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Hassan Bajwa

Absolutely Fantastic Book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 31, 2019

Verified Purchase

Really enjoyed reading this exploration into aeronautics. I am going to do aeronautical engineering at university and this gave me a real headstart in the area, taking my base knowledge of physics and maths and placing into the context of birds and planes in a really entertaining fashion. Would recommend to anyone with an interest in aeronautical engineering and a decent understanding of maths and physics.

2 people found this helpful

Bryan Adams Fan

Christmas gift

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 30, 2017

Verified Purchase

Bought for 13 year old grandson who requested it as he would like to be a pilot

Zsolt Cselinszkyi

its great

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on June 23, 2013

Verified Purchase

The title does say: 'the simple science' and that is what the book is about. I enjoyed reading it as it does introduce you to the world of the science of flight. It does explain some formulas and presents some good examples. Do not expect to take you into much details and therefore would not recommend it to someone who knows about flight engineering.

One person found this helpful

Jose M

Recomendable para los que quieran comprender el vuelo.

Reviewed in Spain 🇪🇸 on March 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

Magnífico, sencillo y suficientemente profundo para entender el vuelo. Basándose en la segunda y tercera ley de Newton el autor explica la naturaleza de la fuerza de sustentación y aplca sus conclusiones a todos los animales voladores y máquinas voladoras.

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NightStrider

Reasonable book but author trivialises some explanations, makes assumptions ...

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 5, 2014

Verified Purchase

Reasonable book but author trivialises some explanations, makes assumptions without explaining them and sometimes glances over points which require a little bit more detail.

3 people found this helpful

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