Title: Introduction: The Meeting of Deconstruction and Science
Abstract:In 1738, Daniel Bernoulli published a formula establishing the correct relation between pressure and kinetic energy when a fluid flows over a solid object. A generation earlier, Newton had argued that...In 1738, Daniel Bernoulli published a formula establishing the correct relation between pressure and kinetic energy when a fluid flows over a solid object. A generation earlier, Newton had argued that drag was calculable as a relation among the density of the fluid medium, the dimensions of the object, and the square of the velocity of that object. By that reasoning, if air acted as an ideal fluid, it would make flight all but impossible. Had Newton been right, the lift needed to get a Boeing 707 off the ground would require a wingspan on the plane greater than 400 yards (rather than the 43 yards it actually takes). Bernoulli, it turned out, had figured out the true nature of air: a fluid, but not an ideal fluid by any means. It would take until the turn of the twentieth century for scientists to realise the implications of Bernoulli’s Principle for aerodynamics, thus leading to the Wright Brothers’ first powered flight in 1903 and every other innovation and application in flight today. The history of the airfoil is often thought to be a direct proof of the realism of science.1 If science is not truly describing an objective world separate from the knower, so goes the claim, then why do planes fly? And especially, why do they fly according to a principle that was discovered long before anyone knew it would be applicable to flight? Bernoulli’s Principle did not explain why air flows at different speeds across an airfoil, but it did describe the difference in pressures. It did not give directions for building an airplane wing, but it did establish the scientific law of nature that would make the planes of the future fly. And the proof was in the pudding in the sky. Unlike Icarus, Orville and Wilbur stayed up. Still today, the Bernoulli Principle is used to make predictions andRead More
Publication Year: 2010
Publication Date: 2010-11-01
Language: en
Type: article
Indexed In: ['crossref']
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