Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

This volume presents an overview of fluid flow and heat exchange. In the broad sense, fluids are materials which are able to flow under the right conditions. These include all sorts of things: pipeline gases, coal slurries, toothpaste, gases in high-vacuum systems, metallic gold, soups and paints, and, of course, air and water. These materials are very different types of fluids, and so it is important to know the different classifications of fluids, how each is to be analyzed (and these methods are quite different), and where a particular fluid fits into this broad picture. This book treats fluids in this broad sense including flows in packed beds and fluidized beds. Naturally, in so small a volume, we do not go deeply into the study of any particular type of flow, however we do show how to make a start with each. We avoid supersonic flow and the complex subject of multiphase flow where each of the phases must be treated separately. The approach here differs from most introductory books on fluids which focus on the Newtonian fluid and treat it thoroughly, to the exclusion of all else. I feel that the student engineer or technologist preparing for the real world should be introduced to these other topics.