Page 24 - 48Fundamentals of Compressible Fluid Mechanics

xxiv CONTENTS

• In Beta Stage is when all or almost all of the chapters have been written and
are at least in a draft stage; and

• In Gamma Stage is when all the chapters are written and some of the chap-
ters are in a mature form.

• The Advanced Stage is when all of the basic material is written and all that is
left are aspects that are active, advanced topics, and special cases.

The mature stage of a chapter is when all or nearly all of the sections are in a
mature stage and have a mature bibliography as well as mature and numerous
examples for every section. The mature stage of a section is when all of the topics
in the section are written, and all of the examples and data (tables, figures, etc.)
are already presented. While some terms are defined in a relatively clear fashion,
other definitions give merely a hint on the status. But such a thing is hard to define
and should be enough for this stage.
The idea that a book can be created as a project has mushroomed from
the open source software concept, but it has roots in the way science progresses.
However, traditionally books have been improved by the same author(s), a process
in which books have a new version every a few years. There are book(s) that
have continued after their author passed away, i.e., the Boundary Layer Theory
6
originated by Hermann Schlichting but continues to this day. However, projects
such as the Linux Documentation project demonstrated that books can be written
as the cooperative effort of many individuals, many of whom volunteered to help.
Writing a textbook is comprised of many aspects, which include the ac-
tual writing of the text, writing examples, creating diagrams and figures, and writing
7
the LT X macros which will put the text into an attractive format. These chores can
A
E
be done independently from each other and by more than one individual. Again,
because of the open nature of this project, pieces of material and data can be used
by different books.

6 Originally authored by Dr. Schlichting, who passed way some years ago. A new version is created
every several years.
7 One can only expect that open source and readable format will be used for this project. But more
than that, only L A T X, and perhaps troff, have the ability to produce the quality that one expects for these
E
writings. The text processes, especially L A T X, are the only ones which have a cross platform ability to
E
produce macros and a uniform feel and quality. Word processors, such as OpenOffice, Abiword, and
Microsoft Word software, are not appropriate for these projects. Further, any text that is produced by
Microsoft and kept in “Microsoft” format are against the spirit of this project In that they force spending
money on Microsoft software.