An Introduction to Fluid Mechanics

Abstract

Dn. SZEBEHELY'S book will probably rank among the most useful texts on orbital mechanics that have appeared in recent years; expecially so, since it covers a subject that has not been overworked by modern textbook authors: the restricted threebody problem.This treatise goes well beyond the obligator)' treatments of Jacobi integrals, zero-velocity curves, and earth-moon transfer trajectories which prevail in current texts on space flight.While the author encourages applications of his material to aerospace trajectory work and cosmogony, he devotes the major part of the text to a thorough exposition of classical astronomical theories and the related mathematical techniques, including some modern efforts in topological dynamics.His expository style, in approaching new topics, follows the time-tested stratagem: Be specific first and generalize later.Thus, the discussion usually opens with very simple analytic models and specific numerical examples to fix ideas.The more advanced material reflects in many places the philosophy that qualitative and formalistie dynamics, on one hand, must be complemented by quantitative dynamics on the other.The former includes regularization, classical series expansions, and canonical transformations and must describe the general character of permissible motions, including their bounds, dependence on initial conditions, and the existence of periodic solutions.Complementing this, the quantitative results obtainable with high-speed computing techniques lend practical significance to various classes of orbits, exhibiting their evolution with changing initial conditions and mass ratio among the primaries.Each chapter concludes with a detailed commentary on numerous references.Thus, in style and content, the book effects a successful compromise between the needs of students, engineers, and research workers in orbital mechanics.