Abstract
I was moved and honored when the Editors of the Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics asked me to write a biography of Professor Van Dyke. I did my Ph.D. with Milton in the Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics at Stanford during the late 1960s and early 1970s. Since the first time that I met him almost 35 years ago, I have admired and respected him as a scientist but also have enjoyed his kindness, modesty, and wit. A few years ago, several of Milton’s students organized a birthday celebration for him. His wife, Sylvia, wrote a biography of him as part of the informal proceedings volume. In writing this article, I have drawn liberally from that biography as well as from other written and oral recollections of Milton. I also discuss some of Milton’s technical work. The emphasis and perspective on these works is my own, including, of course, any possible misinterpretations. Prior to becoming a full-time graduate student at Stanford, I had worked in the Re-entry Aerodynamics Group at Lockheed Missiles and Space Company in Sunnyvale, California. Thus, I was quite familiar with several of Milton’s papers on supersonic and hypersonic flow. Some of this work and follow-up work by other NACA and NASA scientists was used by us virtually on a daily basis. In addition to Milton’s technical mathematics and fluid mechanics and his personal history, I highlight his extensive “public service” work. These largely unsung contributions bring many benefits to the worldwide fluid mechanics community. Perhaps most obviously, Milton co-founded the Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics more than 30 years ago. He has been the principal guide of this most important repository of our professional knowledge ever since.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Disclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.