Fundamentals of Aerodynamics

Mcgraw-Hill Series in Aeronautical and Aerospace Engineering

by John D. Anderson Jr.

In keeping with its bestselling previous editions, Fundamentals of Aerodynamics, Fifth Edition by John Anderson, offers the most readable, interesting, and up-to-date overview of aerodynamics to be found in any text.

The classic organization of the text has been preserved, as is its successful pedagogical features: chapter roadmaps, preview boxes, design boxes and summary section. Although fundamentals do not usually change over time, applications do and so various detailed content is modernized, and existing figures are replaced with modern data and illustrations. Historical topics, carefully developed examples, numerous illustrations, and a wide selection of chapter problems are found throughout the text to motivate and challenge students of aerodynamics.

Genres: Engineering, Science, Textbooks, Physics, Aviation, Nonfiction, Academia

1034 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 1984

About the author

John D. Anderson, Jr. (born October 1, 1937) is the Curator of Aerodynamics at the National Air and Space Museum at the Smithsonian Institution in Washington, DC and Professor Emeritus in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park.

Reviews

[Andre · Rating 1 out of 5]

This is the worst book I've ever had. It's too big as a doorstop, and (surprisingly) not aerodynamic enough to be accurately being thrown to my neighbor's dog. I think it's sole good purpose is to knock your spouse's out if he/she's snoring.

[Kyle · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very clear textbook that goes over all the fundamentals of aerodynamics. That is, it covers inviscid, incompressible flow in great detail, the proceeds along compressible, inviscid flow, the more complicated cousin. Anderson also includes interesting historical asides and worked out examples, and his style is rather fun to read, especially for a textbook. The book also looks at viscous compressible and incompressible flow, but not in the same detail (and since there are fewer analytical solutions, there is less to say anyway at this level of textbook).

My only real complaint is that I wish vector/tensor notation was used more often, but given that the book is for aero-engineers and at an upper undergraduate level, the choice of writing equations out component by component makes a lot of sense. Certainly, if you are interested in aerodynamics this is an excellent text to ground yourself in the basics and learn the techniques to do more advanced work. It has a fun tone and historical asides in addition to teaching you the principles well.

[Jan Baimoldayev · Rating 4 out of 5]

Too verbose, mathematically incoherent notation. Some explanations are plain wrong. Some things are left to you to figure out from external sources, like Schlichting's "Boundary Layer Theory", ruining logical sequence of the subject. Reading McLean's "Understanding Aerodynamics" is a requirement if you want to have a correct impression of aerodynamics, but McLean is, unfortunately, not an intro textbook.

Unfortunately, there is currently no good alternative introductory level aerodynamics textbook available on market, which could be all encompassing, mathematically rigorous, and intuitive à la "Feynman's lectures on Physics", hence Anderson is basically a monopolist: his textbook is de facto Standard Textbook on Aerodynamics for all bachelor students throughout Western World.

As an aerospace student you have to assemble your knowledge from variety of sources, like an applique, taking something from Schlichting, Milne-Thomson, McLean etc, and compile your own understanding of the science.

On a positive side, I like encyclopedic character of the book with many historical commentaries. Anderson wrote an amazing book on History of Aerodynamics. It's one of the best science history books I've ever read, and I could not recommend it any stronger.

[Jiangxuan Chen · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was only 20 years old
I loved aeronautical engineering so much

I leave the rest to your imagination

Fundamentals of Aerodynamics by John D. Anderson Jr. is love, Fundamentals of Aerodynamics by John D. Anderson Jr. is life.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Best aerodynamics text book I've had to date- great steps, easy to read- good detail!

[Rishi · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is one of the best books on aerodynamics I have read. The equations are all derived from the fundamentals in each chapter. Each step is explained mathematically and also the physical meaning of these equations are explained in a very simple way to make it easier to grasp the material. The flow of the chapters also tend to build on themselves and each other giving you a sense of continuity. I will likely be referencing this book for years to come. I would recommend buying the book if you're in the same boat.

As an aside: This is a college-level textbook so I'm not sure why some people would expect there to be no math and all concepts. For what the book is, it is extremely well written.

[Crow 01 · Rating 4 out of 5]

TL;DR: pretty good for surface level learning, but look for more specific books on certain topics. Take the ecuations with a grain of salt.

Amazing for a first contact with the main concepts behind aerodynamics. Not so much for actively learning all the calculus behind it. The notation is good at best, but unintelligible at worse. There are ideas that have amazing and very intuitive examples, with clear images, but there are also tons left explained halfway or not explained at all. The thing I missed the most is the explanation of where some expressions came from and how they are implemented, but most is "left to the reader as an exercise"

[Nurgul · Rating 5 out of 5]

Probably the best book to put brain hurting ideas into small and simple chunks to blow the reader's mind. We used the book throughout our aerodynamics course and the initial notes in the entrance of each chapter came handy to grasp the overall idea behind the discovery of these complicated theorems. For this reason, I believe, I can highly suggest the book as a guide to anyone interested in aerodynamics and the basic principles of its usage in everyday life.

[Usman Muhammad · Rating 1 out of 5]

Mm uthman by name mechanical engineering student interested in read fluid mechanics, thermodynamic etc all in order to improve my knowledge in engineering. The best aerodynamic text book that I ever read is that fundamental of aerodynamic by jonh. Very interested.

[Noah Hiler · Rating 2 out of 5]

I mean, gotta give it to Anderson for being the guy in aerodynamics. A really good collection of works in fundamental aerodynamics, both empirical and analytical. Not quite presented in a way a liked.

[Muhammad Ilham · Rating 5 out of 5]

good

[Sanat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good explaination of incompressible flow and compressible flow. The concept of shock is presented in very effective manner.

[Katie]

Good book

[Ganzy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Very good book. Read every page out of interest.

[K V · Rating 5 out of 5]

Best book for beginners to get into the world of Aerodynamics.

[justsomeguy · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s a great text. Reads like a novel in some areas. I very much enjoyed this text while an undergraduate. Trying to shove the theories and wacky models into your brain is quite interesting.

[Jackson Cyvas · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fastest I’ve ever gone through a 900 page book

[Joshua Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

Johns a solid bloke for this, helped me pass my uni module.

[Shane · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a really great textbook to use alongside the primary book used by the class. This one has some excellent figures which makes understanding the material much easier.

[Smokes · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is, unfortunately, the book you'll want for aerodynamics.

[David Allgood · Rating 3 out of 5]

Came for the aerodynamics. Got about 60% of what I read. Probably only 40% of the math that was on the pages. I really only stayed for the history.

[Thanh Phan · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book help me a lot about aerodynamic. This book is clear and explain step by step the formula such as momentum, energy and mass conservation. This book divided into three parts. First part of this book talk about the subsonic incompressible flow. The second part is inviscid compressible flow. the last part is about viscous flow. This textbook is use for classroom studying. Highly recommendation about this book.

[Allen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reviewed this text from undergrad to prepare for one of my classes. It's a lot of fun and a very interesting subject. I understand the concepts much better now than I did as an undergrad.

[Kamalnath Kali · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book has aroused my curiosity towards aerodynamics. This book explains every concept in detail and in layman terms.

[Thomas Keidel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must-read for engineering students.

[Nugraha Setya Ardi · Rating 5 out of 5]

perhaps this is the most comprehensible aerodynamics book

[Tyler Critchfield]

Writing a review for a textbook is weird and peak-nerdiness, but this one merits it. Very reader-friendly and an awesome introduction to aerodynamics. Really enjoyed it.

[Gigi · Rating 5 out of 5]

(eu li esse livro quase todo na faculdade)
(foi legal)

[Weslley Rodrigo]

MUITO BOM!!!!!