In this chapter the wide array of engineering devices, from the kitchen tap (a valve) to supersonic aircraft, the basic design of which depends upon considerations of the flow of gases and liquids, is shown. Much the same is true of most natural phenomena from the atmosphere and our weather to ocean waves, and the movement of sperm and other bodily fluids. In this textbook a number of the concepts, principles, and procedures which underlie the analysis of any problem involving fluid flow or a fluid at rest are introduced. In this Introduction, examples have been selected for which, by the end of the book, the student should be in a position to make practically useful engineering-design calculations. These include a dam, a rocket motor, a supersonic aerofoil with shock and expansion waves, a turbojet engine, a turbofan engine, and the blading of a gas turbine.
