This collection of three essays was developed from the author's
experience teaching Fluid Dynamics of the Atmosphere and Ocean,
12.800, offered to graduate students entering the MIT/WHOI Joint
Program in Oceanography. The goal of this course is to help each
student master the concepts and mathematical tools that make up
the foundation of classical and geophysical fluid dynamics. Three
topics --- the subject of these essays --- proved to be the most
difficult for most students: 1) dimensional analysis, 2) the Coriolis
force and 3) Lagrangian and Eulerian representations. These essays
treat these topics in considerably greater depth than a comprehensive
fluids textbook can afford, and they are accompanied by data files
(MATLAB® and Fortan) that allows some application and experimentation.
They should be suitable for self study.
Cover of the Topics in Fluid Dynamics. (Image
courtesy of James F. Price.)
Technical Requirements
The essays are accompanied by MATLAB® and Fortran source code. Special software is required if you choose to run the code: .m, and .fortran.
Topics In Fluid Dynamics contents
- Table of Contents (all three essays) (PDF)
- Author's Preface (PDF)
