Foundations of Aerodynamics: Bases of Aerodynamic Design, 5th Edition

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for beginners ,but
Review: A well written introductory book on aerodynamics . Advanced printing technology also adds to the book`s qualities .However , this is not the book for someone who wants to excel at aerodynamics .Like other more recent books ,It aims for medicore level.For example, there are no expansions of advanced topics for the curious student.Also a subject of practical and historical importance like complex potential & conformal mapping is omitted. Summary : If you are new to Fluid Dynamics ,buy it .If you intend to be a real scientist ,you should look for Karamcheti for the incompressible part ,and Shapiro for the compressible part.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for beginners ,but
Review: A well written introductory book on aerodynamics . Advanced printing technology also adds to the book`s qualities .However , this is not the book for someone who wants to excel at aerodynamics .Like other more recent books ,It aims for medicore level.For example, there are no expansions of advanced topics for the curious student.Also a subject of practical and historical importance like complex potential & conformal mapping is omitted. Summary : If you are new to Fluid Dynamics ,buy it .If you intend to be a real scientist ,you should look for Karamcheti for the incompressible part ,and Shapiro for the compressible part.

Rating:
Summary: Why not try...
Review: Although significantly older than this text, I would suggest that readers look for a copy of 'The Aerodynamic Design of Aircraft' by Dietrich Kuchemann (Pergamon, 1976). Although not particularly up to date in terms of the advent of complex CFD methods, Kuchemann's text is an essential summary of the progress of analytical aerodynamics, and it's experimental underpinnings, from Gottingen in the Ludwig Prandtl era, through to the technology of the mid 1970s.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent for beginners
Review: This book is one of the best written ones. It covers everything. I own the 1986 edition. It contains everything you need top understand the nature of the fluid flow past a body.It covers airfoils, finite wing, compressible and incompressible flows, shock waves, boundary layers, turbulence. It doesn't mention complex variable methods and Joukowsky transformation, it is true, but it does a very good job in the other tasks. Personally, I think everyone involved in aerodynamics should own it. It is a good introductory to mid-level book as a reference one.