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This book critically reexamines what turbulence really is, from a fundamental point of view and based on observations from nature, laboratories, and direct numerical simulations. It includes critical assessments and a comparative analysis of the key developments, their evolution and failures, along with key misconceptions and outdated paradigms. The main emphasis is on conceptual and problematic aspects, physical phenomena, observations, misconceptions and unresolved issues rather than on conventional formalistic aspects, models, etc. Apart from the obvious fundamental importance of turbulent flows, this emphasis stems from the basic premise that without corresponding progress in fundamental aspects there is little chance for progress in applications such as drag reduction, mixing, control and modeling of turbulence. More generally, there is also a desperate need to grasp the physical fundamentals of the technological processes in which turbulence plays a central role.
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From the reviews:
"The Essence of Turbulence is a great read. ... The book is an assessment of the underlying premises as the foundation of the paradigmatic models of turbulence rather than another compendium of mathematical fluid mechanics. ... Tsinober presents the essential features of turbulence important for advancing state-of-the-art research in this field ... . Summing Up: Highly recommended. Graduate students and above." (R. N. Laoulache, Choice, Vol. 51 (9), May, 2014)
