Page 22 - 48Fundamentals of Compressible Fluid Mechanics

xxii CONTENTS

material isn’t only done by having to memorize the material, but also by coming to
understand and be able to solve related problems. The author has not found any
technique that is more useful for this purpose than practicing the solving of prob-
lems and exercises. One can be successful when one solves as many problems
as possible. To reach this possibility the collective book idea was created/adapted.
While one can be as creative as possible, there are always others who can see
new aspects of or add to the material. The collective material is much richer than
any single person can create by himself.
The following example explains this point: The army ant is a kind of
carnivorous ant that lives and hunts in the tropics, hunting animals that are even
up to a hundred kilograms in weight. The secret of the ants’ power lies in their
collective intelligence. While a single ant is not intelligent enough to attack and hunt
large prey, the collective power of their networking creates an extremely powerful
4
) . So when an insect which is blind can be so powerful by

intelligence to carry out this attack ( see for information

networking, so can we in creating textbooks by this powerful tool.

$ #
Why would someone volunteer to be an author or organizer of such a
book? This is the first question the undersigned was asked. The answer varies
from individual to individual. It is hoped that because of the open nature of these
books, they will become the most popular books and the most read books in their
respected field. In a way, the popularity of the books should be one of the incentives
for potential contributors. The desire to be an author of a well-known book (at
least in his/her profession) will convince some to put forth the effort. For some
authors, the reason is the pure fun of writing and organizing educational material.
Experience has shown that in explaining to others any given subject, one also
begins to better understand the material. Thus, contributing to this book will help
one to understand the material better. For others, the writing of or contributing
to this kind of book will serve as a social function. The social function can have
at least two components. One component is to come to know and socialize with
many in the profession. For others the social part is as simple as a desire to
reduce the price of college textbooks, especially for family members or relatives
and those students lacking funds. For some contributors/authors, in the course of
their teaching they have found that the textbook they were using contains sections
that can be improved or that are not as good as their own notes. In these cases,
they now have an opportunity to put their notes to use for others. Whatever the
reasons, the undersigned believes that personal intentions are appropriate and
are the author’s/organizer’s private affair.
If a contributor of a section in such a book can be easily identified, then
that contributor will be the copyright holder of that specific section (even within
question/answer sections). The book’s contributor’s names could be written by
their sections. It is not just for experts to contribute, but also students who hap-
pened to be doing their homework. The student’s contributions can be done by

4 see also in Franks, Nigel R.; ”Army Ants: A Collective Intelligence,” American Scientist, 77:139,
1989