Enigma of the Aerofoil
Regular price
€49.99
A01=David Bloor
aerodynamics
aerofoil
aeronautics
aircraft
Author_David Bloor
aviation
cambridge
Category=TBX
Category=TGMF1
Category=TRP
circulation theory
classical hydrodynamics
cyclic
discontinuous flow
drag
engineering
eq_bestseller
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_nobargain
eq_non-fiction
eq_tech-engineering
flight
gottingen
history
invention
joukowsky
kutta arc
lift
lord rayleigh
ludwig prandtl
mathematical physics
nonfiction
pessimism
positivism
relativism
science
stem
technical mechanics
technology
wing
Product details
- ISBN 9780226060958
- Weight: 822g
- Dimensions: 24 x 23mm
- Publication Date: 15 Nov 2011
- Publisher: The University of Chicago Press
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Paperback
Secure
checkout
Fast Shipping
Easy returns
Why do aircraft fly? How do their wings support them? In the early years of aviation, there was an intense dispute between British and German experts over the question of why and how an aircraft wing provides lift. The British, under the leadership of the great Cambridge mathematical physicist Lord Rayleigh, produced highly elaborate investigations of the nature of discontinuous flow, while the Germans, following Ludwig Prandtl in Gottingen, relied on the tradition called "technical mechanics" to explain the flow of air around a wing. Much of the basis of modern aerodynamics emerged from this remarkable episode, yet it has never been subject to a detailed historical and sociological analysis. In "The Enigma of the Aerofoil", David Bloor probes a neglected aspect of this important period in the history of aviation. Bloor draws upon papers by the participants - their restricted technical reports, meeting minutes, and personal correspondence, much of which has never before been published - and reveals the impact that the divergent mathematical traditions of Cambridge and Gottingen had on this great debate.
Bloor also addresses why the British, even after discovering the failings of their own theory, remained resistant to the German circulation theory for more than a decade. The result is essential reading for anyone studying the history, philosophy, or sociology of science or technology - and for all those intrigued by flight.
David Bloor is professor emeritus in the Science Studies Unit at the University of Edinburgh. He is the author of Knowledge and Social Imagery and coauthor of Scientific Knowledge: A Sociological Analysis, both published by the University of Chicago Press.
