Since fluids are everywhere, the laws of fluid mechanics control a wide range of critical phenomena happening all around us.
Fluid Mechanics is a sub-branch of classical physics with a sporadic history that can be understood by dividing its timeline into eras (there are no clear boundaries separating one from another). It can be thought to have initiated around 500 BC when the earliest developments in this field took place (till 1400AD). After this came the medieval times spread from 1400 AD to 1600 AD, followed by post-medieval times (1600 AD to 1687 AD). Next in line were the first (spanning from 1687 – 1800 AD), second (19th century), and third (1883 – 1930 AD) revolutions. With this, we arrive in the latest era, beginning around the 1930s. It was an audience to various breakthrough researches and also witnessed the start of Computational Fluid Dynamics, with the invention of computers.
Research in this field majorly focuses on the study of three quantities – velocity, pressure, and temperature, with all these parameters being interrelated. Basically, everything else can be calculated through them. Furthermore, there is a huge spectrum of fluid-scales, ranging from the nanometer scale and going all the way to the magnificent astrophysical flows! Moreover, there are a number of sub-branches of this domain that actively involve other disciplines of engineering.
An interesting article highlighting several developments in this field can be found here. It is based on one of the sessions (delivered by Uddipta Ghosh, faculty in the Mechanical Engineering discipline) of the Virtual Seminar Series by IIT Gandhinagar.