Introduction to Flight

Noted for its highly readable style, the new edition of this bestseller provides an updated overview of aeronautical and aerospace engineering. Introduction to Flight blends history and biography with discussion of engineering concepts, and shows the development of flight through this perspective..

Anderson covers new developments in flight, including unmanned aerial vehicles, uninhabited combat aerial vehicles, and applications of CFD in aircraft design. Many new and revised problems have been added in this edition. Chapter learning features help readers follow the text discussion while highlighting key engineering and industry applications..

The equation derivations included in the book are essential for a complete understanding of the material. Some basic calculus skills are needed, but anyone interested in engineering should have that anyway. The Appendix and Atmospheric Tables in the back of the book are also a great reference. The book also includes a historical point of view, essential to understanding why planes look the way they do today. This book is written in a style similar to his lectures, using everyday language and vocabulary.

Dr. Anderson is an incredible professor and author--making even the most complicated of subjects easy to understand.


terrific book   March 9, 1999
9 out of 10 found this review helpful

I am an aerospace engineer, but also appreciate books which can explain the complex in clear and interesting language. If you want a good introduction into aerodynamics and the history of flight, this is it. Anderson will "trick" you into learning this complex subject because of his talent for explaining and teaching.


Aerodynamics for Everyone!   February 1, 2001
Keith Heale (Melbourne, Australia)
5 out of 5 found this review helpful

This truly is a gem of a book for the general reader with an intelligent interest in matters aeronautical, as well as the beginning student in aero engineering. It does not plumb the depths of the subject - there are other books (including ones by the same author) which do that. But it covers a huge scope, from aerodynamic fundamentals, through aircraft characteristics and performance, to propulsion systems, and a little about structures and materials. Supersonic and hypersonic flight are included. The treatment is quantitative (there are lots of equations), but in a simplified form and at a level which should be comprehensible to anyone with high-school mathematics. The maths is there to convey principles, without losing the reader in a myriad of detail. Three things which make this book stand out are the clear, approachable style of the author, the fascinating historical perspectives which are sprinkled throughout the book, and the illustrative "design boxes".


"THE BEST" book on all of the basics of aerodynamics   May 18, 2004
Todd Parker (Kaysville, UT)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

I have read several texts on the fundamentals of aerodynamics and flight. This book is by far the best at clarity of explanation with the right mixture of mathematics and applications. The math is enough to educate you on the fundamentals without burying you in endless derivations without giving you the answer to "what does it all mean". When you are done reading it, you will know the theory, the application, and the historical significance. I wish this had been the text I picked up first.


A Great Introduction   September 21, 2005
James R. Thompson (Charlottesville, VA)
3 out of 3 found this review helpful

This book is amazing. Most engineering texts are exhausting to read, but Anderson's is clear, organized, and complete. I've never had a better learning tool--I'll keep it for life.