Hendrik (Henk) Tennekes (born December 13, 1936,
Kampen died July 3, 2021,
Arnhem
Arnhem ( or ; german: Arnheim; South Guelderish: ''Èrnem'') is a city and municipality situated in the eastern part of the Netherlands about 55 km south east of Utrecht. It is the capital of the province of Gelderland, located on both ban ...
) was the director of research at the
Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute (''Koninklijk Nederlands Meteorologisch Instituut'', or KNMI), and was a Professor of
Aeronautical Engineering
Aerospace engineering is the primary field of engineering concerned with the development of aircraft and spacecraft. It has two major and overlapping branches: aeronautical engineering and astronautical engineering. Avionics engineering is sim ...
at
Pennsylvania State University and Professor of
Meteorology
Meteorology is a branch of the atmospheric sciences (which include atmospheric chemistry and physics) with a major focus on weather forecasting. The study of meteorology dates back millennia, though significant progress in meteorology did no ...
at the
Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
The Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (abbreviated as ''VU Amsterdam'' or simply ''VU'' when in context) is a public research university in Amsterdam, Netherlands, being founded in 1880. The VU Amsterdam is one of two large, publicly funded research ...
(Free University (VU) in Amsterdam). He is known for his work in the fields of
turbulence
In fluid dynamics, turbulence or turbulent flow is fluid motion characterized by chaotic changes in pressure and flow velocity. It is in contrast to a laminar flow, which occurs when a fluid flows in parallel layers, with no disruption between ...
and multi-modal forecasting. He authored the textbooks ''The Simple Science of Flight: From Insects to Jumbo Jets'' and ''A First Course in Turbulence'' with
John L. Lumley
John Leask Lumley (4 November 1930 in Detroit, Michigan – 30 May 2015 in Ithaca, New York) was an American fluid dynamicist and a professor at Cornell University. He is widely known for his research in turbulence and is the coauthor of ''A First ...
. The book "A First Course in Turbulence", is a classic that logs more than 2,000 citations on Google Scholar.
Tennekes has stressed the limited predictability of complex systems and the limited value of predictions based on
scientific modeling
Scientific modelling is a scientific activity, the aim of which is to make a particular part or feature of the world easier to understand, define, quantify, visualize, or simulate by referencing it to existing and usually commonly accepted ...
.
He was a member of the
Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences (Koninklijke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, KNAW) from 1982 – 2010.
Controversy
In an interview in the Dutch paper ''
De Telegraaf'', Tennekes says he was ousted from his position at the Royal Dutch Meteorological Institute due to his
skepticism over climate change. After publishing a column critical of climate model accuracy, Tennekes says he was told "within two years, you'll be out on the street".
[ ]
Books
*''The Simple Science of Flight'', MIT Press, 1997.
*''The Simple Science of Flight. From Insects to Jumbo Jets. Revised and Expanded Edition'', 2009. MIT Press. Paperback
*''A First Course in Turbulence'', with
John L. Lumley
John Leask Lumley (4 November 1930 in Detroit, Michigan – 30 May 2015 in Ithaca, New York) was an American fluid dynamicist and a professor at Cornell University. He is widely known for his research in turbulence and is the coauthor of ''A First ...
, MIT Press, 1972.
References
External links
The Lorenz paradigm and the limitations of climate modelsA Personal Call For Modesty, Integrity, and Balance
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tennekes, Hendrik
1936 births
Living people
Dutch meteorologists
People from Kampen, Overijssel
Fluid dynamicists
Aerodynamicists
Pennsylvania State University faculty
Members of the Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences
Dutch flight instructors