Thanks for getting the Navier-Stokes equation out there. It is one of the underpinnings of our civilization, so it’s good to see it get mentioned in public and so lucidly explained. I’m mainly familiar with it from the computational side. N-S has been a big driver for making faster and larger supercomputers. It’s used in weather forecasting, aerodynamic design, putting things into cans and a host of other applications. It’s hard to go a day without recognizing its impact, if one knows to look for it.
Back when I was a kid, most people thought computers looked like tape drives with their whirring wheels and blinking lights. Now, they think of Facebook and Netflix with more whirring wheels and blinking lights. The reality of computing, where it really makes a difference in our lives, in things like Navier-Stokes, the finite element method and a host of other algorithms that describe the physical, not the social, world.
Thanks again.