A History of Aerodynamics

And Its Impact on Flying Machines

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by John David Anderson

Cambridge University Press

Due/Published February 1999, 478 pages, paper

ISBN 0521669553

Aerodynamic principles that make flight possible were little known or barely understood as recently as one hundred years ago. It was not until the scientific breakthroughs at the beginning of the twentieth century that it became possible to design successful flying machines.This book presents the history of aerodynamics, intertwined with a review of the aircraft that were developed as technology advanced. Beginning with Aristotle's scientific theories and experiments, the book continues through the aerodynamics in the early 1900s, and concludes with modern hypersonic and computational aerodynamics.