This book offers a simplified physical treatment of the kinetic theory of gases and magnetoplasmas. The text uses mean-free-path arguments when applicable and identifies problem areas where existing theory has either failed or has fallen short of expectations. Examples are provided by strong shock waves, ultrasonic waves (high Knudsen numbers), and transport across strong magnetic fields. The text pays particular attention to pressure, explaining the importance of allowing for its collisional nature from the outset in developing kinetic theory. In traditional theory, pressure is defined as a...

In Against the Tide: An Autobiographical Account of a Professional Outsider, Leslie Woods relates the fascinating story of his life from fisherman's son in New Zealand to head of the Mathematical Institute at the University of Oxford. After starting at a trade school, he won a scholarship to a university, then joined the RNZAF, and later became a fighter pilot in the Pacific. Woods then won a Rhodes scholarship to Merton College in Oxford after WWII. Following several years of research in aerodynamics, he became a professor of engineering at the University of New South Wales. He also had a...

This 1961 book presents a concise and systematic treatment of two-dimensional subsonic, inviscid fluid motion and its aeronautical applications. Part I surveys the relevant fluid dynamics, assuming only a basic knowledge of the topic. In Part II, the methods of conformal mapping and Cauchy integrals are developed, on the assumption that the reader has only an elementary understanding of complex variable theory; this will be of interest to a wide range of applied mathematicians and engineers. In Part III, the methods are applied to several problems in fluid mechanics and aero dynamics. The...