Musielak publishes books in aerospace engineering and history of physics

Tuesday, Mar 21, 2023 • Greg Pederson :

Dora Musielak, research professor in physics at The University of Texas at Arlington, has published a pair of new books, one of which provides an introduction to hypersonic technologies and another which examines the contributions of the great 18th century mathematician and scientist Leonhard Euler to the field of celestial mechanics.

 

 

The first book, Scramjet Propulsion: A Practical Introduction, is part of the Aerospace Series published by Wiley. The second, Leonhard Euler and the Foundations of Celestial Mechanics, is part of the History of Physics series published by Springer. 

 

Scramjet Propulsion: A Practical Introduction

 

The book provides a comprehensive introduction to hypersonic air-breathing propulsion (HAP) and its applications. It covers the most up-to-date hypersonic technologies, including endothermic fuels, high temperature materials, and thermal protection system (TPS).

 

Hypersonic vehicles fly faster than five times the speed of sound and can enable a new class of flight vehicles that provide faster access to space, rapid military response, and faster means of commercial air travel. Hypersonic vehicles are powered by scramjets.

 

A scramjet is a ramjet engine in which the airflow through the engine remains supersonic, or greater than the speed of sound. The main advantage of a scramjet is that it allows a vehicle to achieve greater speeds than are possible with conventional jet engines.

 

“Developments in the past two decades have led us to an exciting leap in technology that will transform how we travel across the globe and reach space,” Musielak said. “This is the area of aerospace engineering where substantial technical effort is devoted in the U.S., Europe, Asia, Russia, and Australia.”

 

The editors at Wiley approached Musielak to write this book after the successful short courses that she has taught in aerospace propulsion engineering, sponsored by the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics (AIAA) and attended by professionals around the world.

 

“It is difficult, if not impossible, to gain sufficient insight into the possibilities and limitations of high-speed travel or access to space without having to consult multiple books,” Musielak said. “This book intends to change such a paradigm by providing students, engineers, and other technically educated readers an overview of current technologies, R&D status, and tools to continue advancing the required technologies.”

 

Leonhard Euler and the Foundations of Celestial Mechanics

 

The book contains eight chapters and includes such topics as a study of Newtonian and Cartesian physics; introducing analysis to celestial mechanics; theories of motion in the solar system; and Euler’s legacy to astronautics.

 

The book also provides a clear account of the debate surrounding Newton's laws as they were understood in the 18th century, and it includes a comprehensive presentation of mathematical formalism behind nascent theories leading to n-body problem, which is the dilemma of predicting the individual motions of a group of celestial objects interacting with each other.

 

Euler (1707-83) was a Swiss mathematician, physicist, astronomer, and engineer and is regarded as one of the greatest mathematicians in the history of the field. He made influential discoveries in multiple fields, including celestial mechanics, which is the branch of astronomy concerned with the motion of celestial bodies based on the laws of gravitation.

 

“Euler’s contributions to physics are many, and his work advanced all its branches, including acoustics, ballistics, classical mechanics, elasticity, fluid dynamics, hydrodynamics, optics, and orbital mechanics that is fundamental for modern astronautics,” Musielak said. “Euler formulated most of the fundamental differential equations of mechanics we still use today.”

 

Musielak notes that Euler introduced mathematical analysis to physics, transforming mechanics and astronomy into modern exact sciences based on analytical calculus.

 

“He derived the fundamental differential and integral equations of classical mechanics and developed the analytical tools that we still use today to model physical phenomena down to the quantum level,” she said.

 

In the book Musielak quotes the German physicist Dieter Suisky, who wrote, “Euler’s impact on the 19th century has been overlooked, obscured by the overwhelming success of his mathematical writings. An essential part of Euler’s contributions has not yet been understood or described.”

 

“I must add that contemporary physicists continue Euler’s legacy,” Musielak said. “Even without knowing what Euler did more than two centuries ago, today’s researchers work towards uncovering the mysteries of the world, issuing new theories, and developing new technologies to peer deeper into the microscopic and macroscopic realm of our beautiful universe.”

 

Writing about the history of physics is not an endeavor that receives much credit, Musielak said. 

 

“However, it is important for today’s physicists to learn about the past of science and its pioneers,” she said. “Because, as Newton said centuries ago, ‘If I have seen further, it is by standing on the shoulders of giants.’ “

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