Pressure and fluid statics
Pressure differences explain why fluids push, lift, and hold things up. Static examples make the concept concrete before any motion is added.
- Pressure varying with depth
- Buoyancy and support
- Everyday static examples
Fluid Mechanics: A Very Short Introduction
About this ebook
Fluid Mechanics: A Very Short Introduction explains the behavior of liquids and gases through familiar phenomena. Eric Lauga introduces general readers and beginning students to pressure, viscosity, drag, surface tension, and turbulence, connecting physical principles with rivers, weather, swimming, flight, and other examples drawn from nature and engineering.
Inside this title
- Pressure, viscosity, drag, and surface tension through familiar phenomena
Current listed price $6.99Regular price $12.00Digital ebook
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- Format
- Digital ebook
- ISBN
- 9780192566720
- Last updated
- 2026-11-03
What this book covers.
Lauga uses observable phenomena to introduce the questions studied in fluid mechanics. Why a fluid moves, how pressure varies, and what resists motion provide starting points for understanding flows without making mathematical derivations the center of the account.
The discussion connects fluid statics and dynamics with viscosity, drag, surface tension, and the transition to turbulent behavior. Biological examples include swimming organisms, flight, and fluid transport, while larger-scale flows bring in rivers, oceans, and the atmosphere. As part of the Very Short Introductions series, the book gives nonspecialists and students an accessible route into the physical meaning of fluid behavior and its relevance across several sciences.
Study guide included
Inside Fluid Mechanics: A Very Short Introduction.
Lauga introduces the behavior of liquids and gases through phenomena readers already recognize. Pressure, viscosity, drag, surface tension, and turbulence are explained without centering mathematical derivations, using rivers, weather, swimming, and flight to show how fluid mechanics reaches across the sciences and engineering.
Lauga starts from observable questions: why a fluid moves, how pressure changes, and what resists motion. These provide an entry into fluid mechanics that keeps physical meaning ahead of formalism. The discussion covers fluid statics and dynamics, then viscosity, drag, surface tension, and the shift toward turbulent behavior. Biological examples include swimming organisms, flight, and internal fluid transport, while larger-scale flows bring in rivers, oceans, and the atmosphere. As a Very Short Introduction, the book is designed for nonspecialists and beginning students, giving them an accessible route into what fluid behavior means physically and why it matters across several fields of study.
Viscosity and resistance
Viscosity is the internal friction that resists flow. It explains why some liquids pour easily and others do not, and why motion through a fluid costs energy.
- Internal friction in fluids
- How viscosity varies among liquids
- Energy cost of motion
Drag and flow past bodies
Objects moving through fluids meet resistance that depends on shape and speed. Drag connects the abstract idea of flow to the practical design of bodies that move.
- Shape and resistance
- Speed and drag
- Design implications for motion
Surface tension
Interfaces between liquids and air behave as though under tension. This explains droplets, films, and small-scale effects that appear in nature and technology.
- Behavior of liquid interfaces
- Droplets and thin films
- Small-scale phenomena
Transition to turbulence
Smooth flow can become chaotic as conditions change. Turbulence is introduced through observable behavior rather than through detailed mathematics.
- From smooth to chaotic flow
- Conditions favoring transition
- Why turbulence is difficult to predict
Biological and environmental flows
Fluid mechanics appears across scales, from organisms swimming and flying to rivers, oceans, and weather. The breadth shows the subject's reach beyond engineering.
- Swimming and flight
- Rivers, oceans, and atmosphere
- Fluids inside living systems
Topic map
- Topic 1: Pressure and fluids at restFoundation
- Topic 2: Viscosity and resistance to flowMaterial behavior
- Topic 3: Drag and flow around bodiesMotion and design
- Topic 4: Surface tension and interfacesSmall-scale effects
- Topic 5: Laminar flow and the onset of turbulenceFlow regimes
- Topic 6: Biological flows in swimming and flightLife sciences
- Topic 7: Rivers, oceans, and atmospheric flowsEarth and environment
Key takeaways
- Pressure, viscosity, drag, and surface tension can be understood through familiar phenomena before any formal derivation.
- Turbulence is introduced as an observable change in flow behavior rather than as a purely mathematical problem.
- The same principles describe organisms swimming, aircraft in flight, and rivers or weather at much larger scales.
General readers, nonspecialists, and beginning students seeking an accessible entry into fluid mechanics.
Topics covered
- fluid mechanics introduction
- Eric Lauga fluid mechanics
- pressure viscosity and drag
- surface tension explained
- laminar and turbulent flow
- fluid mechanics in biology
- rivers oceans and atmosphere
- very short introduction fluid mechanics
Questions about this ebook.
Edition, audience, and study-guide details at a glance.
What is Fluid Mechanics: A Very Short Introduction about?
Fluid Mechanics: A Very Short Introduction explains the behavior of liquids and gases through familiar phenomena. Eric Lauga introduces general readers and beginning students to pressure, viscosity, drag, surface tension, and turbulence, connecting physical principles with rivers, weather, swimming, flight, and other examples drawn from nature and engineering.
Who is Fluid Mechanics: A Very Short Introduction for?
General readers, nonspecialists, and beginning students seeking an accessible entry into fluid mechanics.
Does this page include a study guide?
Yes. This page includes an original study guide with six thematic sections, key takeaways, and a topic map for structured reading.