Fluid mechanics demystified

The market is inundated with affordable books in science and engineering, including fluid mechanics, which are easily accessible online; this work by Potter, an author of many engineering works and a professor for 42 years, adds to the collection. The book is much less expensive than a brand new fluid mechanics work. However, the topics compiled in this guide, ranging from hydrostatics to compressible gases and shock waves, can be readily found in classical fluid mechanics textbooks, and there are tons of them. The concepts covered here are no more "demystified" than the Navier-Stokes equations, partial and material derivatives, and advanced vector calculus--let alone the relationship between pressure and the stress tensor--which always perplexed and challenged undergraduates. In fact, this book is as mystifying as any other fluid mechanics textbook. For almost half the price, the famous Schaum's Outline of Fluid Mechanics (2008), by Potter and D. Wiggert, is quite as effective. If one wishes to invest in a fluid mechanics textbook, Fluid Mechanics (1975) by the same author and John Foss is classic. Summing Up: Optional. Upper-division undergraduates. R. N. Laoulache University of Massachusetts Dartmouth