Meccanica (2013) 48:1017–1018
DOI 10.1007/s11012-013-9712-0
BOOK REVIEW
Guido Buresti: Elements of Fluid Dynamics
Imperial College Press, 2012
Roberto Verzicco
Received: 7 February 2013 / Accepted: 11 February 2013 / Published online: 20 February 2013
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2013
The study of Fluid Dynamics can be motivated from
a multitude of applications ranging from industrial
to geophysical, environmental or biological. Equally
important is the interest stemming from the physical
comprehension of the flows or the mathematical struc-
ture of the governing equations. Given the broad spec-
trum of the different points of view, defining the struc-
ture of a fluid dynamics textbook is all but an easy
task. The author has succeeded in organizing a com-
prehensive and still accessible book that, starting from
the definition of the concept of fluid touches all the
most relevant concepts of the fluid dynamics up to the
aerodynamics of bluff bodies and finite wings.
The book starts with an Introduction that, after hav-
ing explained the objective of fluid dynamics and its
possible applications, describes the intrinsic difficul-
ties carried by the exact governing equations and the
needs for a derivation of simplified but useful rela-
tions. An enjoyable historical development of fluid
dynamics is then given bringing the reader up to the
nowadays computers. In the second part of the first
Chapter the organization of the book is explained and
R. Verzicco ()
Dipartimento di Ingegneria Industriale, Università di Roma
Tor Vergata, Via del Politecnico 1, 00133, Rome, Italy
e-mail: verzicco@uniroma2.it
R. Verzicco
PoF, University of Twente, Drienerlolaan 5,
7522 NB Enschede, The Netherlands
a short description of the basic notation and the rele-
vant mathematical relations used throughout the text is
given.
Chapter 2 introduces the concept of fluid; it briefly
refers to its microscopic structure to deduce and define
the macroscopic properties that rely on the continuum
hypothesis.
In Chap. 3 the tools to describe the motion of a fluid
are derived starting from the Eulerian and Lagrangian
descriptions and obtaining the expression for the ma-
terial derivative. The deformation of a fluid element is
then analyzed and the concept of vorticity introduced.
The Chapter is closed by the derivation of the Trans-
port Theorem and some examples of particular cases
of motion.
The previous material is used in Chap. 4 to derive
the equations of fluid motion (conservation of mass
and energy and balance of momentum) including the
constitutive relations for a Newtonian fluid the conse-
quent Navier–Stokes equations and various forms of
energy conservation and balance.
Chapter 5 explains the incompressible flow model
from the mechanic and thermodynamic point of view.
It is shown how the governing equations are modified
and the mathematical implications. At the end of the
Chapter the Bernoulli theorem and its applicability are
given together with a final discussion on the differ-
ences between ideal and real flows.
Chapter 6 is completely devoted to the incompress-
ible vorticity dynamics and to the explanation of some
classical vortical flows.
1018
In the next Chapter an overview of the boundary
layer theory and its implications on the incompress-
ible equations and the flow physics is given. A brief
outline of the transition process, the subsequent turbu-
lence and their consequences on the friction coefficient
close the Chapter.
Chapter 8 is devoted to the aerodynamic forces and
their origin in incompressible flows. The special case
of the generation of lift is treated with particular care.
The closure of the chapter deals with the bluff bodies
and some general comments.
With Chap. 8 the first part of the book is concluded
and a second part begins dedicated to deeper analy-
ses and classical applications. In Chap. 9 some clas-
sical steady and unsteady exact solution of the incom-
pressible Navier–Stokes equations are derived and dis-
cussed.
Chapter 10 presents an interesting and unconven-
tional application of the energy balance to the analysis
of classical flows or to different interpretations of the
concepts of drag and added mass.
The next Chapter is on the same line as the previous
except for the consideration of the vorticity instead of
the energy. Once again several original interpretations
of the phenomena are given from a different perspec-
tive.
In Chap. 12 the theory of airfoils in incompressible
flows is presented and part of it relies and the theory of
potential flows. This part is quite broad and it ranges
from pure theoretical issues to more applied aeronau-
tical concepts.
Chapter 13 complements the previous part by
studying the aerodynamics of finite wings and deriv-
ing all the associated loads.
Chapter 14 completes the analysis of external aero-
dynamic by considering the bluff bodies and the pro-
duced loads.
The last Chapter of the book presents the theory
of one-dimensional compressible flows including the
nozzles and some flows with friction.
Meccanica (2013) 48:1017–1018
A final Appendix is provided with a first part con-
taining the classical tables for the computation of com-
pressible flow problems and a second part with opera-
tors and equations in various coordinate systems.
The book ends with a long list of References and a
subject Index in alphabetical order.
The reading of the book is pleasant, the style is en-
joyable, all the notation is consistent and the organi-
zation of the material is rational. The figures are usu-
ally very simple and mostly limited to sketches, they
are, however, always very clear and useful. Something
missing in the book are exercises and numerical appli-
cations of the explained concepts; this absence could
be more important if the book had to be adopted for a
course even if in the latter case the teacher could easily
make up for the exercises with ad hoc assignments.
One of the main merits of the author is that the
book has been written in a rigorous way while keep-
ing all the matter accessible; the development of the
topics through the book is generally deductive so that
reading the chapters following the order given in the
volume it is possible to enjoy a complete journey into
the world of the incompressible fluid dynamics. The
book is quite long and comprehensive and it is unlikely
that all the material could be taught within a single
course; nevertheless, being the volume organized into
two parts, the first could be used at the undergradu-
ate level while the second part would be suitable for a
successive course for master or PhD students.
‘Elements of Fluid Dynamics’ should be found in
all the technical libraries and in the book shelves of
students and researchers involved in fluid dynamics
and looking for a deeper view of the field.
In summary, the author has developed a sound
mathematical description of the incompressible fluid
mechanics that has resulted in a rigorous but yet ac-
cessible description of the subject.