A collection of creative/artistic work depicting or describing the beauty, complexity, and mystery of fluids
This one is for you, fall 2018 fluid mechanicians! Send me your material for extra exam points – if its a photo, it needs to be art rather than a snapshot, and you need a brief descriptive caption. If poetry or short essay or original artwork, no caption required (as in the original work above by Laura Strang ’18).
I’ll kick it off with some bad haiku and a nice photo of the Delaware River:
Professor Brandes
doing fluid mechanics
because its so cool
The swirl of water
a mystery so complex
I need a coffee
Sunrise and fog at the Milford Bridge, Aug 2017. Cool still mornings and a warm river is the recipe for fog in the river valley.
Dennis Creek, NJ in the Delaware River estuary, where fresh and salt water mix
“The froth of the wild Lehigh River spits at my face as I plunge my paddle into its depths, holding it fast, I try to get the raft to steady. Instead it careens into a neighboring boulder and the icy waters grab my breath away. The chill works its way down to my bones where an ember of it ignites a surge of determination within me. I wield my paddle deftly and finally, using the water against itself, we propel our craft out of the landmine of boulders. My comrades and I let out a whoop of jubilation, but as we round the bend, we are hushed.
We have made our way into the belly of the gorge. Sheer cliff faces surround us, dense and rich with green plant life. I feel the sun warming my damp skin into dryness. The sound of rushing water is behind us now and all I can see is glittering sunlight on a serene river top. Humbled, I’m lost in the tapestry of nature. I am never so overwhelmed by my small connectedness to the earth as when I am nestled in her canyon arms and carried on her life giving water.”
– short essay by Theresa Reichman ’21, Section 02
Lake in Szechuan with long exposure
Water impacting rocks at high shutter speed
Lake in Nepal in the Rain
Three images by Bowen Hou ’21, Section 02
Sunlight reflected on the water – taken with film camera. Submitted by Simba Wu ’20
Outboard wake at sunset. Submitted by Tasha Vipond ’20
Tidal basin and Lincoln Memorial, Washington DC. Submitted by Garrison Mueller ’21
Cold…as…Ice. Wait, no! its…..Fluids…are…NICE!
– brought to you by Kyle Low ’20
Water droplets seen through a cave opening. Interlaken, CH. Submitted by Kelly Price ’20
Turbulent ocean and rocks. Murcia, Spain. Submitted by Angie Orellana ’20
Icicles hang from a guardrail along the Atlantic coastline at sunrise. Submitted by Isabel Gleckner ’21
Water skiing on calm water, Newfound Lake, NH. Submitted by Alfred Meau ’20
A Fluids Sonnet
By Nicolette Sonmez ’20
A student asked, “Why do fluids matter?”
His Professor took a deep breath and said:
A fluid is the raindrops that patter,
A fluid is the soup which keeps you fed.
A fluid is the water you must drink,
A fluid is the fuel in your new car.
A fluid is the blood which helps you to think,
A fluid is the protective cloud afar.
A fluid is the ocean which helps keep you cool,
A fluid is the air through which all things live.
A fluid is the level, your trusty tool,
A fluid is the ink with knowledge to give.
The Professor asked, “Now do you see why?”
The student said, “Not really, but I’ll try”.
Remains of Roman aqueduct submitted by Hayden Walker ’20
Sunset on Cape Cod submitted by Sam Klearman ’21
people at sunrise, Bodrum, Turkey submitted by Bora Mutis ’21
Leo’s ripples. Submitted by Theresa Reichman ’21
Wind and Rain Give Smile and Pain
By Dani Gardner ’20
Windshield wipers doing their best,
but expectations are low as the rain gives no rest.
Pounding on and on-
the night threatens us with a yawn.
Streetlights were a luxury lost miles ago
and the tornado warning makes driving home a foe.
Leaves come down from above with the pour of rain,
the winds whip them at our defenseless windshield, another hurdle to stay in our lane.
Almost 1am and our eyes peeled wide
as the car comes to a stop, when to pull over we decide.
This wind is the same which sows seeds each spring
and the rain brings up the daisies that we’ll put into a necklace chain.
But these fluids don’t come in all the peace that we know,
they also bring danger and sorrow.
Filling our ears, already ringing from the concert
but just wanting so badly to make it home, we all stay alert.
And tomorrow the sun will shine and the wind might be still.
We’ll get back to the grind, maybe host an outdoor grill.
A new experience I’ll have had
about a terrible drive that was worse than bad.
And all because the fluids are moving so swift!
For the flow to cease in all directions would be a gift.
An Easton sign we see:
A new goal in sight.
Tomorrow morning with my warm cup of tea,
fluids will be back to bringing delight not fright.
A highlight from last semester:
FLUIDS ARE COOL: SEMESTER REVIEW
– submitted by Chris Romano ’19
Oh, to be a sheet of laminar flow!
Such peaceful bliss is one that I may never know.
To avoid the harsh eddies that arise in turbulent tow
And instead slide upon brethren as ducks fly in a row.
For streamlines of life are never so easy,
As those defined in our beloved Bernoulli.
For in the hustle and bustle, work and the scurry
Stagnation points escape me as I move in a hurry.
Final exams: They call to me from the calendar.
Taunting, teasing, they scream “Come hither!”
The stress, it mounts, devoicing anxious sobs in my throat.
Pressure rising like hydrostatic force beneath a boat.
– But oh, what’s this?
Could it be divine mercy!
Concepts; lectures – at last to be understood!
Similitude and energy: they save of me what they could!
Free me of the chain that is piezometric head
For elevation? Pressure? EGL, HGL? (Oh do I need to go to bed)
Surely on the test I did not know what was to be said!
Now I sing thanks for sweet fortune’s kiss!
The energy equation’s comfort is one that I will surely miss.
Praise be to the deities of fluids;
For if they were to have pondered the impact that they would have on their posterity, they would never have knew it.
Toricelli and Newton; Euler and Joule
Water thicker than blood in this world where fluids are oh so cool.
The 10 commandments enshrined through table A5
One semester in and I’m just glad the head loss experienced here has not been mine!