The science of aerodynamics can be traced back thousands of years to its beginnings but, remarkably, only one human life span has separated the first heavier-than-air powered airplane flight at Kitty Hawk from the first manned moon landing. The last few decades have witnessed phenomenal growth in the science and technology of aerodynamics and no letup is in sight. For those who possess an interest, the task of education encompassing all the various aspects of the subject is staggering. Specialization is indicated but a background knowledge is an essential of any education.

This volume is a result of several semesters of the author's teaching of an introductory course in aerodynamics to apprentices and technicians at the NASA Langley Research Center. The problem faced was to provide more than a layman's treatment of the subject but not the detail as taught in many individual courses on the college level. The result is a highly qualitative, illustrated set of notes which, through the teaching process, was modified to fulfill the objectives better. A thorough revision of these notes with considerable up-to-date material has resulted in the text as presented herein. It is hoped that this volume will stimulate the reader's interest to pursue more specialized education in the many topics of aerodynamics.

T.A.Talay Introduction to the aerodynamics of flight

NASA, 1975