Laurence Joseph Clancy (15 March 1929 - 16 October 2014) was an Education Officer in

aerodynamics Aerodynamics, from grc, ἀήρ ''aero'' (air) + grc, δυναμική (dynamics), is the study of the motion of air, particularly when affected by a solid object, such as an airplane wing. It involves topics covered in the field of fluid dyn ...

Royal Air Force College Cranwell The Royal Air Force College (RAFC) is the Royal Air Force military academy which provides initial training to all RAF personnel who are preparing to become commissioned officers. The College also provides initial training to aircrew cadets and ...

whose textbook ''Aerodynamics'' became standard. He was born in Egypt to Alfred Joseph Clancy and Agnes Hunter. In 1951 he gained a BsC (Hons) degree from the

University of Liverpool , mottoeng = These days of peace foster learning , established = 1881 – University College Liverpool1884 – affiliated to the federal Victoria Universityhttp://www.legislation.gov.uk/ukla/2004/4 University of Manchester Act 200 ...

.In Memoriam
from

Clancy studied aerodynamics at the College of Aeronautics at

RAF Cranfield Cran may refer to: * C-RAN, cellular network architecture * CRAN (R programming language) *Cran (unit), of uncleaned herring *Representative Council of France's Black Associations Surname *Chris Cran (born 1949), a Canadian painter *James Cran (bo ...

, where his teachers were

Terence Nonweiler Terence Nonweiler (8 February 1925 - 17 December 1999) held a Chair of Aeronautical Engineering at Glasgow University and later became Dean of the Faculty of Engineering. He has been credited with being the pioneer of wave-riding technology.

, later of Glasgow University, and

Geoffrey Lilley Geoffrey Michael Lilley (16 November 1919 – 20 September 2015) was an aeronautical scientist known for his work on jet engine noise reduction. His pioneering work led to him being known as the 'father of aeroacoustics', and he played a key ro ...

, later of Southampton University. Clancy qualified as an Education Officer with the RAF and began teaching at Royal Airforce College Cranwell. After 16 years with the Royal Air Force, Clancy had a long career at the

University of Bradford The University of Bradford is a Public university, public research university located in the city of Bradford, West Yorkshire, England. A plate glass university, it received its royal charter in 1966, making it the 40th university to be creat ...

where he served as Dean of Engineering. He was a colleague of John Brian Helliwell. He was married to Jane Bingham.

''Aerodynamics''

Laurence assembled a book manuscript from his lectures. In 1975

John Wiley & Sons John Wiley & Sons, Inc., commonly known as Wiley (), is an American multinational publishing company founded in 1807 that focuses on academic publishing and instructional materials. The company produces books, journals, and encyclopedias, in p ...

and

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issued his

textbook A textbook is a book containing a comprehensive compilation of content in a branch of study with the intention of explaining it. Textbooks are produced to meet the needs of educators, usually at educational institutions. Schoolbooks are textboo ...

''Aerodynamics''. It was re-issued in 1978 by Wiley, and in 1986 by

Longman Longman, also known as Pearson Longman, is a publishing company founded in London, England, in 1724 and is owned by Pearson PLC. Since 1968, Longman has been used primarily as an imprint by Pearson's Schools business. The Longman brand is also ...

. A

book review __NOTOC__ A book review is a form of literary criticism in which a book is merely described (summary review) or analyzed based on content, style, and merit. A book review may be a primary source, opinion piece, summary review or scholarly revie ...

in ''

Journal of Fluid Mechanics The ''Journal of Fluid Mechanics'' is a peer-reviewed scientific journal in the field of fluid mechanics. It publishes original work on theoretical, computational, and experimental aspects of the subject. The journal is published by Cambridge U ...

'' described the book as follows: :The scope of the book is wide and includes the mechanics of flight and aircraft performance in addition to the usual topics of basic fluid mechanics, aerofoil and wing theory, boundary layer theory, gas dynamics and experimental techniques. In his

preface __NOTOC__ A preface () or proem () is an introduction to a book or other literary work written by the work's author. An introductory essay written by a different person is a '' foreword'' and precedes an author's preface. The preface often closes ...

, Clancy portrayed aerodynamics as both an exact and

experimental science An experiment is a procedure carried out to support or refute a hypothesis, or determine the efficacy or likelihood of something previously untried. Experiments provide insight into cause-and-effect by demonstrating what outcome occurs when ...

: :The true aerodynamicist … must combine athematics and experiment using analysis to deepen and extend his knowledge, but continually experimenting in order to check the validity of his assumptions and to improve his understanding of the physical problem. (page xviii) Reviewer M.W. for ''

Flight International ''Flight International'' is a monthly magazine focused on aerospace. Published in the United Kingdom and founded in 1909 as "A Journal devoted to the Interests, Practice, and Progress of Aerial Locomotion and Transport", it is the world's oldes ...

'' wrote, "The author has a lucid style and puts across a traditionally difficult subject in such a way that the less prepared reader is able to follow the arguments of even the knottiest topics."M.W. (14 August 1975
Aerodynamics by L. J. Clancy
from

Flightglobal FlightGlobal is an online news and information website which covers the aviation and aerospace industries. The website was established in February 2006 as the website of ''Flight International'' magazine, ''Airline Business'', ''ACAS'', ''Air ...

via

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References

External links

Laurence Clancy interview
from ovguide {{DEFAULTSORT:Clancy, Laurence Joseph 1929 births 2014 deaths Aerodynamicists British textbook writers Alumni of Cranfield University Academics of the University of Bradford