Computer simulations can predict the experimental observations remarkably well. Of course, the computer program that does the simulation has to be based on a mathematical model of air or water. The study of the way fluids behave is known as Fluid Dynamics . This is a highly mathematical discipline and a great deal of research into fluid dynamics is done in university mathematics departments, as well as in engineering departments. Mathematicians use vector fields to describe the motion of fluids.
Vector means something that has magnitude and direction.
The velocity of the air may also vary with time. Calculus was discovered in the 17th Century principally by Isaac Newton in England and Gottfried Leibnitz in Germany. At first, the calculus was applied to the study of particle-like bodies in motion. Newton's greatest triumph was to use the calculus to build a mathematical model of the solar system that was simple, yet extremely accurate. He showed that simple laws of motion and a simple law of gravitation accurately explain the motion of the planets around the sun.