An introduction to turbulent flow /

Mathieu and Scott (Ecole Centrale de Lyon, France) offer a positive contribution to the field of turbulence, bringing a fresh and lucid approach to turbulence as opposed to the classical books published in the 1970s. They present modest mathematics balanced with clear physical explanations of the theory. The book introduces the reader, early on, to the statistical tools used in turbulence using the one-point statistical method, which is one of the book's best features. It provides the beginner with an early understanding of basic tools in statistical turbulence. The advantage of this approach lies in the ability to analyze a range of turbulent flows with relatively simple mathematics. As a result, the transition to the spectral method implemented in the multipoint statistical approach is less demanding. The last chapter, an overview of numerical simulation of turbulent flows used in research, is worth reading. This book, seven years in the making, is recommended to researchers who want to learn about the general theory of turbulence before tackling more specialized problems. This book requires a background in fluid mechanics and an advanced knowledge of mathematical tools. Graduate students; faculty. R. N. Laoulache; University of Massachusetts Dartmouth