Outline of fluid dynamics
What is fluid dynamics?
Fluid dynamics can be described as all of the following:
An academic discipline – one with academic departments, curricula and degrees; national and international societies; and specialized journals.
A scientific field (a branch of science ) – widely recognized category of specialized expertise within science, and typically embodies its own terminology and nomenclature. Such a field will usually be represented by one or more scientific journals, where peer-reviewed research is published.
A natural science – one that seeks to elucidate the rules that govern the natural world using empirical and scientific methods.
A physical science – one that studies non-living systems.
A branch of physics – study of matter, its fundamental constituents, its motion and behavior through space and time, and the related entities of energy and force.
A branch of mechanics – area of mathematics and physics concerned with the relationships between force, matter, and motion among physical objects.
A branch of continuum mechanics – subject that models matter without using the information that it is made out of atoms; that is, it models matter from a macroscopic viewpoint rather than from microscopic.
A subdiscipline of fluid mechanics – branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them, which also includes hydrostatics as a subdiscipline
A subdiscipline of fluid mechanics – branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids (liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them.
A branch of dynamics (mechanics) – subject that studies forces and motion.
Branches of fluid dynamics
Mathematical equations and concepts
Concepts in aerodynamics
Aileron – Aircraft control surface used to induce roll
Airplane – Powered aircraft with wings
Angle of attack – Angle between the chord of a wing and the undisturbed airflow
Banked turn – Inclination of road or surface other than flat
Bernoulli's principle – Principle relating to fluid dynamics
Bilgeboard – Lifting foil used in a sailboat
Boomerang – Thrown tool and weapon
Centerboard – Retractable keel which pivots out of a slot in the hull of a sailboat Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Chord (aircraft) – Imaginary straight line joining the leading and trailing edges of an aerofoil Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Circulation control wing – Aircraft high-lift device
Currentology – Science that studies the internal movements of water masses
Diving plane – Control surface on a submarine
Downforce – Downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic characteristics of a vehicle
Drag coefficient – Dimensionless parameter to quantify fluid resistance
Fin – Thin component or appendage attached to a larger body or structure
Flipper (anatomy) – Flattened limb adapted for propulsion and maneuvering in water
Flow separation – Detachment of a boundary layer from a surface into a wake
Foil (fluid mechanics) – Solid object used in fluid mechanics
Fluid coupling – Device used to transmit rotating mechanical power
Gas kinetics – Study of the motion of gases
Hydrofoil – Type of fast watercraft and the name of the technology it uses
Keel – Lower centreline structural element of a ship or boat hull (hydrodynamic)
Küssner effect – Concept in aerodynamics
Kutta condition – Fluid dynamics principle regarding bodies with sharp corners
Kutta–Joukowski theorem – Formula relating lift on an airfoil to fluid speed, density, and circulation
Lift coefficient – Dimensionless quantity relating lift to fluid density and velocity over an area
Lift-induced drag – Type of aerodynamic resistance against the motion of a wing or other airfoil
Lift-to-drag ratio – Measure of aerodynamic efficiency
Lifting-line theory – Mathematical model to quantify lift
NACA airfoil – Wing shape
Newton's third law – Laws in physics about force and motion Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Propeller – Device that transmits rotational power into linear thrust on a fluid
Pump – Device that imparts energy to fluids by mechanical action
Rudder – Control surface for fluid-dynamic steering in the yaw axis
Sail – Fabric or other surface supported by a mast to allow wind propulsion (aerodynamics)
Skeg – Extension of a boat's keel at the back, also a surfboard's fin
Sound barrier – Sudden increase of undesirable effects when an aircraft approaches the speed of sound
Spoiler (automotive) – Device for reducing aerodynamic drag Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Stall (flight) – Abrupt reduction in lift due to flow separation Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Supersonic flow over a flat plate
Surfboard fin – Part of a surfboard
Surface science – Study of physical and chemical phenomena that occur at the interface of two phases
Torque converter – Fluid coupling that transfers rotating power from a prime mover to a rotating driven load
Trim tab – Boat or aircraft component
Wing – Appendage used for flight
Wingtip vortices – Turbulence caused by difference in air pressure on either side of wing
Fluid dynamics research
Methods used in fluid dynamics research
Applications of fluid dynamics
Acoustics – Branch of physics involving mechanical waves
Aeronautics – Science of air flight-capable machines
Astrophysical fluid dynamics – Branch of modern astronomy
Cryosphere science – Earth's surface where water is frozen Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Geophysical fluid dynamics – Dynamics of naturally occurring flows
Hemodynamics – Dynamics of blood flow Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Hydraulics – Applied engineering involving liquids
Hydrology – Science of the movement, distribution, and quality of water on Earth
Fluidics – Use of a fluid to perform analog or digital operations
Fluid power – Use of fluids under pressure to generate, control, and transmit power
Geodynamics – Study of dynamics of the Earth
Hydraulic machinery – Type of machine that uses liquid fluid power to perform work
Meteorology – Study of the atmosphere, focusing on weather forecasting
Naval architecture – Engineering discipline of marine vessels
Oceanography – Scientific study of the ocean
Plasma physics – State of matter Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Pneumatics – Use of pressurised gas in mechanical systems
Ice-sheet dynamics – Large mass of glacial ice Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Fluid dynamics organizations
Fluid dynamics publications
Journals pertaining to fluid dynamics
People in fluid dynamics
Contributors to the field of fluid dynamics in turn come from a wide array of fields, and in addition to their other titles, each is also a fluid dynamicist. Following is a list of notable fluid dynamicists:
Snezhana Abarzhi – Applied mathematician and mathematical physicist
John Abraham – American professor
H. Norman Abramson – American engineer (1926–2022)
David Acheson – British mathematician
Andreas Acrivos – Greek–American physicist (1928–2025)
Noreen Sher Akbar – Pakistani applied mathematician
Silas D. Alben – American mathematician
Jean le Rond d'Alembert – French mathematician (1717–1783) Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Hannes Alfvén – Swedish physicist and Nobel laureate (1908–1995)
John D. Anderson – American curator (born 1937)
Elephter Andronikashvili – Georgian physicist
Shelley Anna – American chemical engineer
Archimedes – Greek mathematician and physicist (c. 287 – 212 BC)
Hassan Aref – Professor of fluid dynamics
Vladimir Arnold – Russian mathematician (1937–2010)
Amedeo Avogadro – Italian scientist (1776–1856)
Ralph Bagnold – British Army officer (1896–1990)
Boris Bakhmeteff – Russian diplomat (1880–1951)
Donát Bánki – Hungarian mechanical engineer (1859–1922)
Grigory Barenblatt – Russian mathematician (1927–2018)
Dwight Barkley – British researcher
Adhémar Jean Claude Barré de Saint-Venant – French mathematician (1797–1886) Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
Alfred Barnard Basset – British mathematician (1854–1930)
George Batchelor – Australian mathematician and physicist
Harry Bateman – British-American mathematician
Francine Battaglia – American computational fluid dynamicist
Jurjen Battjes – Dutch civil engineer (born 1939)
Henri-Émile Bazin – French hydraulic engineer
James Thomas Beale – American mathematician
Adrian Bejan – Romanian-American professor
Josette Bellan – Romanian-French-American fluid dynamicist
Henri Bénard – French physicist (1874–1939)
Brooke Benjamin – English mathematical physicist and mathematician
David Benney – New Zealand applied mathematician
Frank H. Berkshire – British mathematician
Natalia Berloff – Russian mathematician
Daniel Bernoulli – Swiss mathematician and physicist (1700–1782)
Johann Bernoulli – Swiss mathematician (1667–1748)
Andrea Bertozzi – American mathematician
W. H. Besant – British mathematician
Albert Betz – German physicist (1885–1968)
Eugene C. Bingham – American chemist (1878–1945)
Jean-Baptiste Biot – French physicist (1774–1862)
Robert Byron Bird – American chemical engineer (1924–2020)
Garrett Birkhoff – American mathematician (1911–1996)
Paul Richard Heinrich Blasius – German physicist
Tobias de Boer – Dutch scientist
Ludwig Boltzmann – Austrian mathematician and theoretical physicist (1844–1906)
Wilfrid Noel Bond – English physicist (1897–1937)
Joseph Valentin Boussinesq – French mathematician and physicist (1842–1929)
Robert Boyle – Anglo-Irish scientist (1627–1691)
Peter Bradshaw (aeronautical engineer) – British engineer (1935–2024)
Francis Bretherton – American mathematician, oceanographer and engineer (1935–2021)
John D. Buckmaster – British aerospace engineer
Gerald Bull – Canadian artillery engineer and entrepreneur (1928–1990)
Jan Burgers – Dutch physicist (1895–1981)
Adolf Busemann – German-American aerospace engineer
Sébastien Candel – French physicist (born 1946)
Isabelle Cantat – French physicist
Silvana Cardoso – Portuguese fluid dynamicist
Nicolas Léonard Sadi Carnot – French physicist and engineer (1796–1832)
George F. Carrier – American mathematician
Claudia Cenedese – Italian oceanographer
Subrahmanyan Chandrasekhar – Indian-American astrophysicist (1910–1995)
Hubert Chanson – Australian engineering academic (born 1961)
Jacques Charles – French inventor, scientist and mathematician (1746–1823)
Jean-Yves Chemin – French mathematician (born 1959)
Thomas H. Chilton – American chemical engineer
Alexandre Chorin – American mathematician (1938–2026)
Demetrios Christodoulou – Greek mathematician and physicist (born 1951)
Chia-Kun Chu – Chinese-American mathematician (1927–2023)
Émile Clapeyron – French engineer and physicist (1799–1864)
John Frederick Clarke
Rudolf Clausius – German physicist and mathematician (1822–1888)
Paul Clavin – French scientist
Nicolas Clément – French physicist and chemist (1779–1841)
Julian Cole – American mathematician (1925–1999)
Adrian Constantin – Romanian-Austrian mathematician
Stanley Corrsin – American physicist and engineer
Maurice Couette – French physicist
Richard Courant – German-American mathematician (1888–1972)
David Crighton – British mathematician and physicist (1942–2000)
Mimi Dai – Mathematician Pages displaying short descriptions with no spaces
Stuart Dalziel – British and New Zealand fluid dynamicist
Gerhard Damköhler – German chemist (1908–1944)
Henry Darcy – French engineer (1803–1858)
Georges Jean Marie Darrieus – French aerospace and electrical engineer
Stephen H. Davis – American mathematician (1939–2021)
William Reginald Dean – British mathematician (1896–1973)
Lokenath Debnath – Indian American mathematician (1935–2023)
Subhasish Dey – Indian hydraulician and educator
Satish Dhawan – Indian mathematician and engineer (1920–2002)
Rudolf Diesel – German inventor and engineer (1858–1913)
Ronald DiPerna – American mathematician
Charles R. Doering – American mathematician (1956–2021)
David Dolidze – Georgian and Soviet mathematician
Philip Drazin – British mathematician (1934–2002)
Hugh Latimer Dryden – American aeronautical scientist and civil servant (1898–1965)
Elizabeth B. Dussan V. – American mathematician
Ernst R. G. Eckert
Vagn Walfrid Ekman – Swedish oceanographer (1874–1954)
Simen Ådnøy Ellingsen – Norwegian Professor
Loránd Eötvös – Hungarian physicist (1848–1919)
Jerald Ericksen – American mathematician (1924–2021)
R. Cengiz Ertekin – Turkish marine engineer
Leonhard Euler – Swiss mathematician (1707–1783)
David Evans (mathematician) – British mathematician (1940–2026)
Amir Faghri – American mechanical engineering professor (born 1951)
Gino Girolamo Fanno – Italian mechanical engineer (1882–1962)
Eduard Feireisl – Czech mathematician
Antonio Ferri – Italian scientist (1912–1975)
John Ffowcs Williams – British engineer-scientist (1935–2020)
Bruce A. Finlayson
Irmgard Flügge-Lotz – German-American mathematician and aerospace engineer
Emanuele Foà – Italian engineer and physicist (1892–1949)
Hermann Föttinger – German engineer (1877–1945)
Joseph Fourier – French mathematician and physicist (1768–1830)
James B. Francis – British-American civil engineer (1815–1892)
David A. Frank-Kamenetskii – Soviet scientist (1910–1970)
François Frenkiel
Uriel Frisch – French mathematical physicist
Robert Edmund Froude – British engineer and naval architect
William Froude – British engineer and naval architect
Mohamed Gad-el-Hak – Professor of Biomedical Engineering
Joseph Louis Gay-Lussac – French chemist and physicist (1778–1850)
Israel Gelfand – Soviet mathematician (1913–2009)
William K. George – American fluid dynamicist
Morteza Gharib
Alan Jeffrey Giacomin – Canadian professor of chemical engineering
Josiah Willard Gibbs – American scientist (1839–1903)
Adrian Gill (meteorologist) – Australian meteorologist
Pierre-Simon Girard – French mathematician and engineer (1765–1836)
Hermann Glauert – British aerodynamicist (1892-1934)
James Glimm – American mathematician
Sergei Godunov – Russian mathematician (1929–2023)
Sydney Goldstein – British mathematician (1903–1989)
Alexander Gorlov – Russian-American scientist and inventor (1931–2016)
Leo Graetz – German physicist
Franz Grashof – German engineer (1826–1893)
Albert E. Green – British mathematician
Harvey P. Greenspan – American mathematician (1933–2026)
Marina Guenza – Italian chemist
Max Gunzburger – American mathematician
Wolfgang Haack – German mathematician (1902–1994)
Gotthilf Hagen – German physicist
Georg Hamel – German mathematician (1877 - 1954)
Thomas Henry Havelock – English mathematician
Wallace D. Hayes
Peter H. Haynes – British mathematician
Werner Heisenberg – German physicist (1901–1976)
Henry Selby Hele-Shaw – British engineer (1854–1941)
Hermann von Helmholtz – German physicist and physiologist (1821–1894)
John Hinch (mathematician)
Julius Oscar Hinze – Dutch scientist (1907–1993)
Hans G. Hornung
Leslie Howarth – British mathematician
Pierre Henri Hugoniot – French scientist (1851–1887)
Herbert Huppert – British geophysicist (born 1943)
Fazle Hussain – American physicist
M. Yousuff Hussaini
Caius Iacob – Romanian mathematician and politician
Antony Jameson – British aerospace engineer (1934–2026)
James Jeans – English physicist, astronomer, and mathematician (1877–1946)
George Barker Jeffery – British mathematical physicist (1891–1957)
Daniel D. Joseph – American mechanical engineer
James Prescott Joule – English physicist (1818–1889)
Viktor Kaplan – Austrian engineer
Béla Karlovitz – Hungarian-American engineer, inventor
Theodore von Kármán – Hungarian-American mathematician, aerospace engineer and physicist (1881–1963)
Lord Kelvin – British physicist, engineer and mathematician (1824–1907)
Earle Hesse Kennard – US theoretical physicist (1885–1968)
Gustav Kirchhoff – German physicist and mathematician (1824–1887)
Alexander Kiselev (mathematician) – American mathematician
Martin Knudsen – Danish physicist
Andrey Kolmogorov – Soviet mathematician (1903–1987)
Ludwig Kort
Diederik Korteweg – Dutch mathematician (1848–1941)
Leslie Stephen George Kovasznay – Hungarian-American engineer
Robert Kraichnan – American theoretical physicist (1928–2008)
Martin Kutta – German mathematician (1867–1944)
Olga Ladyzhenskaya – Russian mathematician (1922–2004)
Paco Lagerstrom – Swedish American mathematician
Horace Lamb – English mathematician (1849–1934)
Lev Landau – Soviet theoretical physicist (1908–1968)
Pierre-Simon Laplace – French polymath (1749–1827)
Boris Laschka – German fluid dynamics scientist and aeronautical engineer
Brian Launder – British academic
Gustaf de Laval – Swedish engineer and inventor (1845–1913)
Chung K. Law – Engineering researcher
Peter Lax – Hungarian-born American mathematician (1926–2025)
L. Gary Leal – American chemical engineer and academic
Leonid Leibenson – Soviet physicist (1879–1951)
Leonardo da Vinci – Italian polymath (1452–1519)
Tullio Levi-Civita – Italian mathematician (1873–1941)
Veniamin Levich – Ukrainian physicist (1917–1988)
Bernard Lewis (scientist)
Warren K. Lewis – American chemical engineer (1882–1975)
Paul A. Libby – American scientist (1921–2021)
Wolfgang Liebe – German aeronautical engineer (1911–2005)
Hans W. Liepmann – American engineer and academic (1914–2009)
Evgeny Lifshitz – Soviet physicist (1915–1985)
Edwin N. Lightfoot – American chemical engineer
James Lighthill – British applied mathematician (1924–1998)
Chia-Chiao Lin – Chinese-born American mathematician
Amable Liñán – Spanish aeronautical engineer (1934–2025)
Paul Linden – British mathematician
Anke Lindner – German physicist
Michael S. Longuet-Higgins – British Mathematician
Lu Shijia – Chinese physicist
Geoffrey S. S. Ludford – American scientist (1921–2021)
John L. Lumley
Thomas S. Lundgren – American fluid dynamicist (born 1935)
Ernst Mach – Austrian physicist, philosopher and university educator (1838–1916)
Charles L. Mader – American physical chemist
Andrew Majda – American mathematician (1949–2021)
Carlo Marangoni – Italian physicist (1840–1925)
Frank E. Marble – American scientist
Moshe Matalon (engineer) – Israeli-American engineer and mathematician (born 1949)
Tony Maxworthy – British-American physicist (1933–2013)
John B. McCormick – American mechanical engineer (1834–1924)
Trevor McDougall – Oceanographer Pages displaying short descriptions with no spaces
Beverley McKeon – Physicist and aerospace engineer
Chiang C. Mei – Taiwanese-American physicist (1935–2026)
Charles Meneveau – French-Chilean born American fluid dynamicist
Theodor Meyer – German physicist (1882–1972)
Anthony Michell – Australian mechanical engineer
John W. Miles – American research professor of applied mechanics and geophysics
Laura Miller (mathematical biologist) – American mathematical biologist
L. M. Milne-Thomson – English applied mathematician
Richard von Mises – Austrian physicist and mathematician (1883–1953)
Keith Moffatt – British mathematician and physicist
Parviz Moin – American engineer
Andrei Monin – Soviet-Russian physicist, mathematician, and oceanographer (1921–2007)
Lewis Ferry Moody – American engineer and professor
Rose Morton – American mathematician
Samar Mubarakmand – Pakistani nuclear physicist (born 1942)
Walter Munk – American oceanographer (1917–2019)
Morris Muskat – American petroleum engineer
Roddam Narasimha – Indian scientist (1933–2020)
Claude-Louis Navier – French engineer and physicist (1785–1836)
Paul Neményi – Hungarian mathematician and physicist (1895–1952)
John von Neumann – Hungarian and American mathematician and physicist (1903–1957)
Isaac Newton – English polymath (1642–1727)
Nhan Phan-Thien
Wilhelm Nusselt – German mechanical engineer and professor (1882–1957)
Morrough Parker O'Brien – American hydraulic engineering professor (1902–1988)
John Ockendon
Hisashi Okamoto – Japanese mathematician
Steven Orszag – American mathematician (1943–2011)
Carl Wilhelm Oseen – Swedish theoretical physicist (1879–1944)
Simon Ostrach – American mathematician and engineer (1923-2017)
Mariolina Padula – Italian mathematical physicist
Stoycho Panchev – Bulgarian meteorologist and fluid dynamicist
Blaise Pascal – French polymath (1623–1662)
Jean Claude Eugène Péclet – French physicist (1793–1857)
Tim Pedley – British mathematician (born 1942)
Joseph Pedlosky – American physical oceanographer (born 1938)
Lester Allan Pelton – American mechanical engineer
Stanford S. Penner
Howell Peregrine – British mathematician
Adriana Pesci – Argentine mathematician and physicist
Charles S. Peskin – American mathematician
Norbert Peters (engineer) – German combustion engineer (1942–2015)
Henri Pitot – French hydraulic engineer (1695–1771)
Joseph Plateau – Belgian physicist (1801–1883)
Milton S. Plesset – American physicist (1908–1991)
Henri Poincaré – French mathematician, physicist and engineer (1854–1912)
Jean Léonard Marie Poiseuille – French physicist and physiologist (1797–1869)
Siméon Denis Poisson – French mathematician and physicist (1781–1840)
Stephen B. Pope – Cornell University professor of mechanical engineering
Constantine Pozrikidis – American chemical engineer
Ludwig Prandtl – German physicist (1875–1953)
Ronald F. Probstein – American engineer (1928–2021)
Andrea Prosperetti
Joseph Proudman – British mathematician and oceanographer
Seth Putterman – American physicist
William Rankine – Scottish mechanical engineer (1820–1872) Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
John William Strutt, 3rd Baron Rayleigh – British physicist (1842–1919)
Theodor Rehbock
Markus Reiner – Israeli scientist and engineer
Osborne Reynolds – Anglo-Irish innovator (1842–1912)
William Craig Reynolds
Dimitri Riabouchinsky – Russian physicist (1882–1962)
Lewis Fry Richardson – English meteorologist and mathematician (1881–1953)
Robert D. Richtmyer – American mathematician
Norman Riley (professor) – British mathematician
Petre Roman – Prime Minister of Romania between 1989 and 1991
Louis Rosenhead – British mathematician
Anatol Roshko – Canadian-American physicist and engineer
Carl-Gustaf Rossby – Swedish-born American meteorologist
Hunter Rouse – American physicist
John Scott Russell – Naval engineer
Philip Saffman – British mathematician (1931–2008)
Stephen Salter – South African-born Scottish academic and inventor
Ralph Allan Sampson – British astronomer
Hermann Schlichting – German fluid dynamics engineer
James Serrin – American mathematician
Tasneem M. Shah – Pakistani scientist and mathematician Pages displaying short descriptions of redirect targets
P. N. Shankar – Indian scientist (1944–2019)
Ascher H. Shapiro – American engineering professor (1916–2004)
Beverley Shenstone – Canadian aerodynamicist (1906–1979)
Thomas Kilgore Sherwood – American chemical engineer
Albert F. Shields – American engineer
Max Shiffman – American mathematician
Wei Shyy – Chinese areospace engineer (born 1955)
Gregory Sivashinsky
Apollo M. O. Smith – American aerospace engineer (1911–1997)
Frank T. Smith – English applied mathematician
Arnold Sommerfeld – German theoretical physicist (1868–1951)
Andrew Soward – British fluid dynamicist
Brian Spalding
Ephraim M. Sparrow – American academic
Charles Speziale – American scientist (1948–1999)
Herbert Squire – British aerospace engineer (1909–1961)
K. R. Sreenivasan – Indian-American scientist and physicist
Paul H. Steen – American engineer
Josef Stefan – Carinthian Slovene physicist (1835–1893)
Keith Stewartson – British mathematician (1925–1983)
Sir George Stokes, 1st Baronet – British mathematician and physicist (1819–1903)
Yvonne Stokes – Australian mathematician
Howard A. Stone – American engineer (born 1960)
Vincenc Strouhal – Czech physicist
John Trevor Stuart – British mathematician (1929–2023)
G. I. Taylor – British physicist and mathematician (1886–1975)
Roger Temam – French mathematician
Hendrik Tennekes – Dutch scientist (1936–2021)
Walter Tollmien – German fluid dynamicist
Albert Alan Townsend – Fluid dynamics physicist
David Tritton – English physicist (1935–1998)
Viktor Trkal – Czech physicist (1888–1956)
Clifford Truesdell – American mathematician (1919–2000)
Gretar Tryggvason – American fluid dynamicist (born 1956)
Ernie Tuck – Australian mathematician
Laurette Tuckerman – American mathematical physicist
Stewart Turner – Australian geophysicist (1930–2022)
Fritz Ursell – British mathematician (1923–2012)
Victor Vâlcovici – Romanian mechanician and mathematician
Milton Van Dyke
Henri Villat – French mathematician
Ricardo Vinuesa
Gustav de Vries – Dutch mathematician (1866–1934)
John V. Wehausen – American applied mathematician
Julius Weisbach – German mathematician and engineer (1806–1871)
Karl Weissenberg – Austrian mathematician and physicist
Richard T. Whitcomb – American aeronautical engineer (1921–2009)
Frank M. White – American mechanical engineer (1933–2022)
Gerald B. Whitham – American mathematician (1927–2014)
Forman A. Williams – American academic
John R. Womersley – British mathematician, computer scientist and biophysicist
Theodore Y. Wu – American engineer (1924–2023)
Akiva Yaglom – Russian physicist, mathematician, statistician, and meteorologist
Chia-Shun Yih
Z. Jane Wang – Chinese and American physicist
Yakov Zeldovich – Soviet physicist, physical chemist and cosmologist (1914–1987)
Yuwen Zhang – Chinese-American academic
Nikolay Zhukovsky (scientist) – Russian scientist (1847–1921)
Miscellaneous concepts
These topics need placement in the sections above, or in new sections.