Milton Denman Van Dyke (August 1, 1922 – May 10, 2010) was Professor of the Department of

Aeronautics Aeronautics is the science or art involved with the study, design process, design, and manufacturing of air flight-capable machines, and the techniques of operating aircraft and rockets within the atmosphere. While the term originally referred ...

and

Astronautics Astronautics (or cosmonautics) is the practice of sending spacecraft beyond atmosphere of Earth, Earth's atmosphere into outer space. Spaceflight is one of its main applications and space science is its overarching field. The term ''astronautics' ...

Stanford University Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a Private university, private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth ...

. He was known for his work in

fluid dynamics In physics, physical chemistry and engineering, fluid dynamics is a subdiscipline of fluid mechanics that describes the flow of fluids – liquids and gases. It has several subdisciplines, including (the study of air and other gases in motion ...

, especially with respect to the use of

perturbation analysis In mathematics and applied mathematics, perturbation theory comprises methods for finding an approximate solution to a problem, by starting from the exact solution of a related, simpler problem. A critical feature of the technique is a middle ...

aerodynamics Aerodynamics () is the study of the motion of atmosphere of Earth, air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dynamics and its subfield of gas dynamics, and is an ...

. His often-cited book ''

An Album of Fluid Motion The book ''An Album of Fluid Motion'' is a collection of black-and-white photographs of flow visualizations for different types of fluid flows. These flows include: * Creeping flow *Laminar flow *Flow separation *Vortices *Fluid instability *Fluid ...

'' presents a collection of about 400 selected

black-and-white photographs Black-and-white (B&W or B/W) images combine black and white to produce a range of :wikt:achromatic, achromatic brightnesses of grey. It is also known as greyscale in technical settings. Media The history of various visual media began with b ...

flow visualization Flow visualization or flow visualisation in fluid dynamics is used to make the flow patterns visible, in order to get qualitative or quantitative information on them. Overview Flow visualization is the art of making flow patterns visible. ...

in experiments, received – on his request – from researchers all over the world. Together with

Bill Sears William Penton Sears (born December 9, 1939), also referred to as Dr. Bill, is an American pediatrician and the author or co-author of parenting books. Sears is a celebrity doctor and has been a guest on various television talk shows. Sears is ...

, Milton founded the ''

Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics ''Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal covering research on fluid mechanics. It is published once a year by Annual Reviews and the editors are Parviz Moin and Howard Stone. As of 2023, ''Annual Review of Flui ...

'', in 1969, for which he was an

editor Editing is the process of selecting and preparing written, visual, audible, or cinematic material used by a person or an entity to convey a message or information. The editing process can involve correction, condensation, organization, a ...

until 2000.

Biography

He was the son of James and Ruth (Barr) Van Dyke.Gregory, J. (1980) ''Who's Who in Engineering'', 4th ed., American Association of Engineering Societies. He studied Engineering Sciences at

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, from 1940 until 1943. Thereafter he started working at

NACA The National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA) was a United States federal agency that was founded on March 3, 1915, to undertake, promote, and institutionalize aeronautical research. On October 1, 1958, the agency was dissolved and its ...

Ames Laboratory Ames National Laboratory, formerly Ames Laboratory, is a United States Department of Energy national laboratory located in Ames, Iowa, and affiliated with Iowa State University. It is a top-level national laboratory for research on national sec ...

. After the Second World War, Milton went to

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech) is a private university, private research university in Pasadena, California, United States. The university is responsible for many modern scientific advancements and is among a small g ...

, to obtain his MS in 1947 and

PhD A Doctor of Philosophy (PhD, DPhil; or ) is a terminal degree that usually denotes the highest level of academic achievement in a given discipline and is awarded following a course of graduate study and original research. The name of the deg ...

(

magna cum laude Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...

) in 1949. A second period at Ames Laboratory followed. During this period, Milton was awarded a

Guggenheim fellowship Guggenheim Fellowships are Grant (money), grants that have been awarded annually since by the John Simon Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, endowed by the late Simon Guggenheim, Simon and Olga Hirsh Guggenheim. These awards are bestowed upon indiv ...

and

Fulbright grant The Fulbright Program, including the Fulbright–Hays Program, is one of several United States cultural exchange programs with the goal of improving intercultural relations, cultural diplomacy, and intercultural competence between the people o ...

, which he used to spend the 1954–55 academic year working with

George Batchelor George Keith Batchelor FRS (8 March 1920 – 30 March 2000) was an Australian applied mathematician and fluid dynamicist. He was for many years a professor of applied mathematics in the University of Cambridge, and was founding head of the ...

Cambridge University The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...

. He was a visiting professor at the University of Paris in the 1958–59 academic year, then in 1959 he was appointed as a professor at the new Aerodynamics department of Stanford University. He married Sylvia Jean Agard Adams in 1962 and the couple would eventually have six children, three of whom were triplets. In 1976, he was elected to the

National Academy of Engineering The National Academy of Engineering (NAE) is an American Nonprofit organization, nonprofit, NGO, non-governmental organization. It is part of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine (NASEM), along with the National Academ ...

. He was the director of Parabolic Press, an independent publisher of engineering books whose releases included a second edition of his own '' Perturbation Methods in Fluid Mechanics'' (1975) and ''

An album of fluid motion The book ''An Album of Fluid Motion'' is a collection of black-and-white photographs of flow visualizations for different types of fluid flows. These flows include: * Creeping flow *Laminar flow *Flow separation *Vortices *Fluid instability *Fluid ...

'' (1982). He insisted on keeping the prices low so that students could afford the books. The first issue in 2014 of the '' Journal of Engineering Mathematics'' was a special issue to honour Milton Van Dyke and his work.

Books

* * *

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Van Dyke, Milton 1922 births 2010 deaths Harvard John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences alumni Stanford University Department of Aeronautics and Astronautics faculty Aerodynamicists Fluid dynamicists American aerospace engineers Scientists from Chicago Members of the United States National Academy of Engineering California Institute of Technology alumni Engineers from Illinois Annual Reviews (publisher) editors