Wider horizons for fluid mechanics

Readers of this Journal do not, in my experience, have a uniform view of what properly constitutes the discipline of Fluid Mechanics; nor would they agree on what the main outstanding problems in the subject are. Many, particularly among those who do not contribute to the Journal, believe – unfortunately – that it has become a branch of applied analysis on the theoretical side, and is dominated by hot-wire and laser anemometry on the experimental side. As an ex-editor, I must hasten to add that this has not been the view of the editors, and that, if such an impression is created by the spectrum of papers published in the Journal, such an imbalance largely reflects the nature of the papers submitted.