Fluid Mechanics

I have to state a few things before I go into this review. At my university this course is supposed to come after calculus 3 (vector calculus i.e. triple and double integration, vector fields, etc) and after differential equations. Also usually after a numerical analysis course, I took a graduate level numerical analysis and methods course before I started this course. I also had DE and linear algebra finished so overall my math background is very solid. I also took physics up to quantum for electives so my physics background is also solid.

With all that being said this book takes a physics and mathematical approach over the standard engineering textbooks out there. So a lot of the equations that it derives at times will be a little different then what you will use on problems. You will also need to know to make a lot of assumptions that it never goes over. This is where a strong professor comes in. You will need to take a professor that not only derives equations but explains the assumptions for each type of problem. This will cause a lot of the double and triple integrals to become a simple integration many times. There are quite a number of times you will need to know how to set up a differential equation and also be able to solve it using different methods. There are problems were you will need to interpolate a function over a interval [a,b] in order to derive an answer. Linear systems for multiple unknowns are common in some problems as well.

The problems lies in the fact that the examples in the book are VERY weak at times and do not show how to go about doing a lot of these things that I mentioned. This means that you are limited in teaching yourself, unless of course you use the solution manual, which also skips many steps. You will need to fill in the steps yourself. Also don't think you can run to Chegg a lot of their answers are wrong and also skip steps, since Chegg just copies the solution manual for 95% of problems.

Overall it is a good book if you have a solid foundation but if you are missing courses that this book assumes you have taken you may be in for a rough ride. I cannot give it five stars since I believe a textbook should be able to teach a student 80% of material in a course especially at the price charged.

Hope this helps!

I understand why my professor likes this book so much. Just like him, it is incoherent and an absolute mess with little organization and rationale throughout. The only useful part of this book is the practice problems when combined with a solutions manual. If it weren’t required for my class, it would be an absolute waste of money.

I used this book for an undergrad fluid mechanics course. The book is well written, however I eventually gave up on trying to read and understand it. It seems is written by a really smart person and most of the time I found the material in the book to be over my head. A lot of my classmates thought the same thing too. I often thought that this textbook is more suited for graduate level students.
However the book keeps true to fluid mechanics and does not include a lot of unnecessary "filler" material that some textbooks do.
By filler material I mean stuff that is related to the subject but not necessary for the the understanding of the material.

Thorough explanation of fluid mechanics with plenty of practice problems to ensure understanding.

It is a good text for fluid mechanics but a little common sense would go a long way to make it better. Good example problems but also poor direction with homework problems. Many assumptions are made but never stated to the student. If the instructor tells you ahead of time, then things will make sense. Without this type of insight many of the problems are very ambiguous.

I used this book for my undergrad fluid mechanics class for civil engineering.
Overall, the book is a solid intro to fluid mechanics. The explanations are pretty clear, and the example problems are helpful and relevant. Here are some of the book's downsides:

- Many of the solutions at the end of the book are wrong... which is very frustrating since this is the 7th printing of this textbook.
- The book skips a lot of steps (ie Navier-Stokes equations section, which is frustrating for someone first learning the subject). This makes it tough for someone beginning the subject or if you have a weaker mathematics background.
- In general, this book assumes you have a strong math background (i.e. you can instantly recognize and solve diff. eqs, double/triple integrals)
- There aren't that many examples. The examples that White does go through are relatively basic compared to the problems at the end of the chapters. However, this can be fixed by searching for additional practice problems online.

Overall, this is a readable and interesting book, assuming you have a strong math background (ie first order diff eqns, linear algebra, some multivariable calculus).

This is my favorite fluid mechanics textbook. The material is presented in a logical fashion and is explained very well. The book begins with foundational material that can be reviewed if necessary. The early chapters are devoted to material the student should definitely have before advancing to more sophisticated material. The third chapter begins the true study of fluid mechanics and modeling. Through the chapters the author develops each topic well. As with any textbook, one author cannot say it all. For this reason, the student should be prepared to read other views of the material. Another textbook, Fox and McDonalds Fluid Mechanics by Wiley is a good choice for augmenting some of the topics such as the differential analysis of fluids. This is a good book for anyone to use to review fluid mechanics even if they have a strong background in this topic. If studying this for the first time, White's treatment is excellent. Note that this book is developed with the mechanical engineering perspective in mind. As a chemical engineer, I had to go back and review some material on stress and strain in order to maximize the use of this book. If this book is used for chemical or environmental engineering, the instructor should be prepared to augment those sections where dynamics assumed to have been studied.

In summary: excellent and comprehensive book and enjoyable to read!

Book arrived severely damaged

I got this for some personal project research. I want to expand on my degree.

ok