description: In The Science of Water, Enzo Levi traces the scientific evolution of modern hydraulics, and reveals the gradual development of hydraulic concepts and theories over a 2,300-year period. Levi places prominent scientists in their historical context, and reviews both successful and failed attempts to understand the perplexities of the physical behavior of water.Translated from the Spanish El Agua Segun La Ciencia and written in straightforward language, The Science of Water accomplishes a difficult objective. It achieves a balance between history and science, idea and understanding, failure and success, and imagination and creativity. The Science of Water facilitates the strengthening of knowledge, the learning of concepts not traditionally taught, and the building of self-confidence and insight to observe and explain phenomena in original ways.Major and minor achievements in all branches of hydraulics are examined, as chapters illustrate how erroneous concepts were originated and transferred from one scientist to another. Bidone's discovery of hydraulic jump and its use by Venturi; Torricelli's principle; the evolution of the "Navier-Stokes equation;" Thomson's vortex atom; and Newton's theories on velocity and resistance are just a few of the areas covered. In a separate chapter, Levi discloses Leonardo da Vinci's fascination, observations, and theories on water and its power as "the driver of nature."
language: English
title: The Science of Water: The Foundation of Modern Hydraulics
titlecomplete: The Science of Water: The Foundation of Modern Hydraulics
ratings_count: 1
publisher: Amer Society of Civil Engineers