8
Introduction to Celebrities in Fluid Mechanics
In order to facilitate the study and understanding of the development of
fluid mechanics, this chapter mainly collects 52 scientists who have made
important contributions to fluid mechanics in the world (sorted according to
the year of birth) from the Encyclopedia of China and baike.baidu.com, and
introduces their main scientific achievements, so as to provide a reference for
beginners.
8.1 Archimedes (287–212 B.C.)
Archimedes (287–212 B.C.), a great Greek philosopher, scientist, mathematician, physicist, mechanic, founder of static mechanics and hydrostatics,
enjoys the reputation of “the father of mechanics”. Archimedes, Gauss, and
Newton are the three greatest mathematicians in the world. Archimedes once
said, “Give me a fulcrum, and I will lift the whole earth”. He established the
basic principles of statics and hydrostatics and gave many methods to find
the center of gravity of a geometric figure, including that of a figure enclosed
by a parabola and its parallel chords. Archimedes proved that the buoyancy
of an object in a liquid is equal to the weight of the liquid it displaces, which
was later called Archimedes principle. He also gave a criterion for the equilibrium stability of a positive parabolic rotating body floating in a liquid. The
machines invented by Archimedes include a water screw for water diversion, a
lever pulley machine that can move a full ship, and an Earth-Moon-Sun operation model that can explain the phenomenon of solar and lunar eclipse. But
he thought that mechanical invention was inferior to pure mathematics, so
© Science Press 2021
P. Liu, A General Theory of Fluid Mechanics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6660-2_8
581
Introduction to Celebrities in Fluid Mechanics
In order to facilitate the study and understanding of the development of
fluid mechanics, this chapter mainly collects 52 scientists who have made
important contributions to fluid mechanics in the world (sorted according to
the year of birth) from the Encyclopedia of China and baike.baidu.com, and
introduces their main scientific achievements, so as to provide a reference for
beginners.
8.1 Archimedes (287–212 B.C.)
Archimedes (287–212 B.C.), a great Greek philosopher, scientist, mathematician, physicist, mechanic, founder of static mechanics and hydrostatics,
enjoys the reputation of “the father of mechanics”. Archimedes, Gauss, and
Newton are the three greatest mathematicians in the world. Archimedes once
said, “Give me a fulcrum, and I will lift the whole earth”. He established the
basic principles of statics and hydrostatics and gave many methods to find
the center of gravity of a geometric figure, including that of a figure enclosed
by a parabola and its parallel chords. Archimedes proved that the buoyancy
of an object in a liquid is equal to the weight of the liquid it displaces, which
was later called Archimedes principle. He also gave a criterion for the equilibrium stability of a positive parabolic rotating body floating in a liquid. The
machines invented by Archimedes include a water screw for water diversion, a
lever pulley machine that can move a full ship, and an Earth-Moon-Sun operation model that can explain the phenomenon of solar and lunar eclipse. But
he thought that mechanical invention was inferior to pure mathematics, so
© Science Press 2021
P. Liu, A General Theory of Fluid Mechanics,
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-33-6660-2_8
581