Ludwig Prandtl (1875–1953) has been called the father of modern aerodynamics. His name is associated most famously with the boundary layer concept, but also with several other topics in 20th-century fluid mechanics, particularly turbulence (Prandtl's mixing length). Among his disciples are pioneers of modern fluid mechanics like Heinrich Blasius, Theodore von Kármán, and Walter Tollmien. Furthermore, Prandtl founded the Aerodynamische Versuchsanstalt (AVA) and the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Institut für Strömungsforschung in Göttingen, nuclei for the growth of fluid mechanics in Germany. In this article I trace this development on the basis of my recent biography of Prandtl.
Accepted:
Published online:
Michael Eckert 1
@article{CRMECA_2017__345_7_467_0,
author = {Michael Eckert},
title = {Ludwig {Prandtl} and the growth of fluid mechanics in {Germany}},
journal = {Comptes Rendus. M\'ecanique},
pages = {467--476},
publisher = {Elsevier},
volume = {345},
number = {7},
year = {2017},
doi = {10.1016/j.crme.2017.05.005},
language = {en},
}
Michael Eckert. Ludwig Prandtl and the growth of fluid mechanics in Germany. Comptes Rendus. Mécanique, A century of fluid mechanics: 1870–1970, Volume 345 (2017) no. 7, pp. 467-476. doi : 10.1016/j.crme.2017.05.005. https://comptes-rendus.academie-sciences.fr/mecanique/articles/10.1016/j.crme.2017.05.005/
[1] Lehrbuch der Hydrodynamik, Hirzel, Leipzig, 1900
[2] Vorlesungen über technische Mechanik, Einführung in die Mechanik, vol. 1, Teubner, Leipzig, 1898
[3] Hydrodynamik, Enzykl. Math. Wiss., Volume 4 (1901) no. 3, pp. 48-147
[4] Hydraulik, Enzykl. Math. Wiss., Volume 4 (1905) no. 3, pp. 324-472
[5] Hydraulics' latest golden age, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech., Volume 8 (1976), pp. 1-13
[6] Strömungsforscher und Wissenschaftsmanager. Ein unverstellter Blick auf sein Leben, Springer, Heidelberg, 2017
[7] Worlds of Flow. A History of Hydrodynamics from the Bernoullis to Prandtl, Oxford University Press, Oxford, 2005
[8] Mein Weg zu hydrodynamischen Theorien, Phys. Bl., Volume 4 (1948), pp. 89-92
[9] Beiträge zur Theorie der Dampfströmung durch Düsen, Z. Ver. Dtsch. Ing., Volume 48 (1904) no. 10, pp. 348-350
[10] Über Flüssigkeitsbewegung bei sehr kleiner Reibung, Heidelberg 1904, Teubner, Leipzig (1905), pp. 484-491
[11] Grenzschichten in Flüssigkeiten mit kleiner Reibung, Universität Göttingen, 1907 (PhD thesis)
[12] Fluidmechanics in the first half of this century, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech., Volume 1 (1969), pp. 1-29
[13] Universität, Technische Hochschule und Industrie. Ein Beitrag zur Emanzipation der Technik im 19. Jahrhundert unter besonderer Berücksichtigung der Bestrebungen Felix Kleins, Duncker und Humblot, Berlin, 1970
[14] Hydrodynamisches seminar 1907/08. Handritten notes http://www.uni-math.gwdg.de/aufzeichnungen/klein-scans/klein/V27-1907-1909/V27-1907-1909.html (30 October 1907, Göttingen, University Library, Cod. Ms. Klein 20 F. The protocols of the seminars are available online at)
[15] A History of Aerodynamics and Its Impact on Flying Machines, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 1998
[16] Die Aerodynamische Versuchsanstalt in Göttingen, ein Werk Ludwig Prandtls. Ihre Geschichte von den Anfängen bis 1925, Vandenhoeck und Ruprecht, Göttingen, 1990
[17] Fuhrmann to Prandtl, 19 September 1909, Letter in the Archive of the Deutsches Zentrum für Luft- und Raumfahrt, Göttingen, GOAR 2628.
[18] Bericht über die Tätigkeit der Göttinger Modellversuchsanstalt, Jahrbuch der Motorluftschiff-Studiengesellschaft, 1911, pp. 43-50
[19] Theoretische und experimentelle Untersuchungen an Ballonmodellen, Universität Göttingen, 1912 (PhD Dissertation)
[20] Prandtl and the Göttingen school (P. Davidson; Y. Kaneda; H.K. Moffatt; K.R. Sreenivasan, eds.), A Journey Through Turbulence, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011, pp. 40-100
[21] German Air Power in World War I, University of Nebraska Press, Lincoln, 1982
[22] Die Modellversuchsanstalt in Göttingen, Z. Flugtech. Mot.luftschiffahrt, Volume 11 (1920), pp. 84-87
[23] The Dawn of Fluid Dynamics. A Discipline Between Science and Technology, Wiley-VCH, Weinheim, 2006
[24] Tragflügeltheorie I. Mitteilung, Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Gött., Math.-Phys. Kl. (1918), pp. 151-177
[25] Tragflügeltheorie II, Nachr. Ges. Wiss. Gött., Math.-Phys. Kl. (1919), pp. 107-137
[26] Beiträge zur Tragflügeltheorie mit besonderer Berücksichtigung des einfachen rechteckigen Flügels, Göttingen University, 1919 (Dissertation)
[27] Isoperimetrische Aufgaben aus der Theorie des Fluges, Göttingen University, 1919 (Dissertation)
[28] Präzision versus Exaktheit: Konfligierende Ideale der angewandten mathematischen Forschung: Das Beispiel der Tragflügeltheorie, Ber. Wiss.gesch., Volume 25 (2002), pp. 171-193
[29] Ergebnisse der Aerodynamischen Versuchsanstalt zu Göttingen, I. Lieferung (L. Prandtl, ed.), Oldenbourg, München, 1921
[30] The Enigma of the Aerofoil, University of Chicago Press, Chicago, IL, USA, 2011
[31] Strategic internationalism and the transfer of technical knowledge: The United States, Germany, and aerodynamics after World War, Technol. Cult., Volume 46 (2005) no. 1, pp. 104-131
[32] Ludwig Prandtl in the nineteen–thirties: reminiscences, Annu. Rev. Fluid Mech., Volume 5 (1973), pp. 1-7
[33] Book review, J. Fluid Mech., Volume 524 (2005), pp. 376-379
[34] The Wind and Beyond, Little, Brown and Company, 1967
[35] A Journey Through Turbulence (P. Davidson; Y. Kaneda; H.K. Moffatt; K.R. Sreenivasan, eds.), Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011, pp. 101-126
[36] The troublesome birth of hydrodynamic stability theory: Sommerfeld and the turbulence problem, Eur. Phys. J. Hist., Volume 35 (2010) no. 1, pp. 29-51
[37] Theory from wind tunnels: empirical roots of twentieth century fluid dynamics, Centaurus, Volume 50 (2008), pp. 233-253
[38] M. Eckert, A kind of boundary-layer ‘flutter’: the turbulent history of a fluid mechanical instability, in: M. Epple, F. Schmaltz (Eds.), History of Fluid Mechanics in the 19th and 20th Century, forthcoming.
[39] The inspiration behind the Cambridge school (P. Davidson; Y. Kaneda; H.K. Moffatt; K.R. Sreenivasan, eds.), A Journey Through Turbulence, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2011, pp. 127-186
[40] Beitrag zum Turbulenzsymposium (J.P. Den Hartog; H. Peters, eds.), Proceedings of the Fifth International Congress on Applied Mechanics, John Wiley, New York, Cambridge MA, 1938, pp. 340-346
[41] Ludwig Prandtl—A Personal Biography Drawn from Memories and Correspondence, Göttingen Universitäsverlag, Göttingen, 2014 (Translated into English by David A. Tigwell German original: Ludwig Prandtl–Ein Lebensbild Erinnerungen, Dokumente, 2005, Göttingen Universitäsverlag)
[42] http://www.ds.mpg.de/81243/hist
[43] http://www.dlr.de/100Jahre/en/desktopdefault.aspx/tabid-2565/4432_read-7449/
Cited by Sources:
Comments - Policy