History of fluid mechanics
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The history of fluid mechanics is a fundamental strand of the history of physics and engineering. The study of the movement of fluids (liquids and gases) and the forces that act upon them dates back to pre-history. The field has undergone a continuous evolution, driven by human dependence on water, meteorological conditions and internal biological processes.
The success of early civilizations, can be attributed to developments in the understanding of water dynamics, allowing for the construction of canals and aqueducts for water distribution and farm irrigation, as well as maritime transport. Due to its conceptual complexity, most discoveries in this field relied almost entirely on experiments, at least until the development of advanced understanding of differential equations and computational methods. Significant theoretical contributions were made by notables figures like Archimedes, Johann Bernoulli and his son Daniel Bernoulli, Leonhard Euler, Claude-Louis Navier and Stokes, who developed the fundamental equations to describe fluid mechanics. Advancements in experimentation and computational methods have further propelled the field, leading to practical applications in more specialized industries ranging from aerospace to environmental engineering. Fluid mechanics has also been important for the study astronomical bodies and the dynamics of galaxies.