Osborne Reynolds and the Publication of His Papers on Turbulent Flow

Derek Jackson; Brian Launder

doi:10.1146/annurev.fluid.39.050905.110241

Annual Review of Fluid Mechanics

Volume 39, 2007

Review Article

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Osborne Reynolds and the Publication of His Papers on Turbulent Flow

Derek Jackson¹, and Brian Launder¹
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Affiliations: School of Mechanical, Aerospace, and Civil Engineering, University of Manchester, Manchester M60 1QD, United Kingdom; email: [email protected], [email protected]
Vol. 39:19-35 (Volume publication date January 2007) https://doi.org/10.1146/annurev.fluid.39.050905.110241
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Abstract

Following The Royal Society's decision to allow the release of hitherto confidential documents concerning referees' reports and other material relating to the publication of historical manuscripts, the present paper examines the exchanges preceding the publication of the two papers on turbulent flow by Osborne Reynolds that have so greatly influenced the development of Engineering Fluid Mechanics over the past century. The documents cited reveal that, although the earlier experimental paper was warmly welcomed, the referees were critical of the subsequent analytical contribution. It appears that the publication of the latter paper was due mainly to the considerable standing Reynolds had by then acquired, in part from the impact of his experimental paper published 12 years earlier. The paper also provides a summary of Reynolds' career and research prior to his embarking on the research published in the two seminal papers.

Keyword(s): Horace Lamb, Reynolds equations, Reynolds number, Sir George Stokes, The Royal Society, turbulence energy

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2007-01-21

2024-04-27

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