本书的内容是作者在波恩大学为硕士生开设的一门流体力学课程的基础上撰写的。读者需要掌握非常基本的热力学和向量微积分的知识才可以无障碍地阅读本书。本书偏向于天体物理学和地球物理学的应用，如可能在恒星或海洋中发现的波浪类型。书中许多原理都是通过日常经验中的例子来说明的，例如，水龙头流出的水在洗手盆表面扩散时所形成的水力冲击与天体物理冲击现象有关。书中还相对简短地提及了诸如边界层、管道流动和空气动力学等主题，介绍了磁流体力学，该部分是对流体力学对导电流体的扩展。本书适合物理及相关专业师生使用，也适合物理爱好者参考阅读。

Preface
Author biography
1 Introduction
1.1 The fluid approximation
1.2 The hydrodynamic equations
Exercise
2 Some basic concepts
2.1 Visualisation
2.2 Sound waves
2.3 Compressibility
2.3.1 The incompressible equations of motion
2.4 Rotation of fluid elements
2.4.1 Cireulation
2.4.2 Vorticity
2.4.3 Potential flo w
2.5 Gravitationally stratified fluid
2.5.1 Hydrostatic equilibrium
2.5.2 The Boussinesq and anelastic approximations
2.5.3 The hydrostatic approximation
Exercises
References
3 Steady flow of an ideal fluid
3.I Bernoulli's equation
3.1.1 Applications of Bernoulli's equation
3.2 Subsonic and supersonic flow
3.3 Flow through a nozzle
3.4 Stellar winds and accretion
Exercises
References
4 Viscosity
4.1 The viscous stress tensor
4.2 Viscous heating
4.3 Examples of viscous flow
4.4 Similarity and dimensionless parameters
4.5 Regimes of viscous flow: example of flow past a solid body
4.6 Boundary layers
4.7 Heat diffusion
Exercises
Reference
5 Waves and instabilities
5.1 Surface gravity waves
5.1.1 The shallow-water equations
5.2 One fluid on top of another fluid
5.3 Shear instability between two fluids
5.4 Internal gravity waves
5.5 Convection
5.6 Baroclinic instability
5.7 Turbulence
5.8 The Jeans instability
Exercises
References
6 Shocks
6.1 Viscous versus pressure gradient force
6.2 The jump conditions
6.3 Contexts
6.4 Hydraulic jumps
Exercises
7 Vorticity and rotating fluids
7.1 Vortices
7.2 The vorticity equation
7.3 The momentum equation in a rotating frame of reference
7.4 The centrifugal force and the von Zeipel paradox
7.5 The vorticity equation in a rotating frame
7.6 Inertial waves
7.7 The Taylor-Proudman theorem
7.8 The geostrophic approximation
7.9 Rossby waves
Exercises
References
8 Magnetohydrodynamics: equations and basic concepts
8.1 The MHD equations
8.2 The MHD approximation
8.3 The magnetic and other fields
8.4 A brief note concerning units
8.5 Field lines, flux conservation and flux freezing
8.6 Magnetic diffusivity
8.7 Magnetic pressure, tension and energy density
8.8 Waves
8.9 Different regimes in MHD
8.10 Magnetic helicity
8.11 MHD equilibria
Exercises
References
9 MHD: astrophysical contexts
9.1 The solar corona
9.1.1 Force-free and potential fields
9.1.2 Energy minima
9.1.3 Reconnection
9.2 Jets: launching, collimation and instabilities
9.2.1 Launching
9.2.2 Collimation
9.2.3 Instability
9.3 Angular momentum transport in discs
9.3.1 MRI: physical mechanism
and stability condition
9.3.2 The dispersion relation
9.3.3 MRI:remarks
Exercises
References
Appendix A: Useful information
编辑手记