When visiting NASA Langley I had Josh Blake kindly take my picture by the Variable Density Wind Tunnel. Pioneered by Max Munk, leading theoretician in aerodynamics in America in our early years of aviation. National historical landmark: The test section and airflow passages built into the VDT pressure vessel formed a continuous flow of pressurized …
Category Archives: Life
2022
This semester we are continuing to perform research for DARPA on analytical methods for hypersonic aerodynamics. It is a difficult task. My new students are transitioning well and former students are excelling in their new careers. I am teaching a new course on turbulence modeling. This should be placed online for everyone near the end …
On Teaching Philosophy
You asked me how should I best teach them. Should I teach them from the point of view of the history of science the applications? My theory is that the best way to teach is to have no philosophy. We must be chaotic and confuse them in the sense that you use every possible way …
Edward Burra Interview
The BBC, a long time ago, published an interview with the great British artist Edward Burra. https://vimeo.com/20763625. I have always loved his paintings of the Spanish civil war and its aftermath, his adventures in Paris and Parisian culture, and his lamentation of the destruction of the English country side. Most of his paintings are housed …
Leonardo da Vinci
Aerospace Verses Mechanical Engineers
Mechanical Engineers use \(y\) as a coordinate axis at the ground pointing towards the sky. Dissimilar, Aerospace Engineers use \(y\) as a coordinate fixed to a flight-vehicle pointing towards the Earth. This is why Mechanical Engineers have their feet on the ground, and Aerospace Engineers have their heads above the clouds.
Oliver Heaviside
Shall I refuse my dinner because I do not fully understand the process of digestion? Oliver Heaviside according to von Karman and Biot, on the subject of turbulence