Sylvia Winifred Skan (15 August 1897 – 10 June 1972) was an English applied mathematician. She is known for her work on

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 ...

, and in particular for the

Falkner–Skan boundary layer In fluid dynamics, the Falkner–Skan boundary layer (named after V. M. Falkner and Sylvia W. Skan) describes the steady two-dimensional laminar boundary layer that forms on a wedge, i.e. flows in which the plate is not parallel to the flow. It is ...

in the

fluid mechanics Fluid mechanics is the branch of physics concerned with the mechanics of fluids ( liquids, gases, and plasmas) and the forces on them. It has applications in a wide range of disciplines, including mechanical, aerospace, civil, chemical and bio ...

of airflow past a wedge-shaped obstacle, which she wrote about with V. M. Falkner in 1930, and for the associated Falkner–Skan equation. Skan was born in

Bickenhill Bickenhill is a small village in the civil parish of Bickenhill and Marston Green, in the Solihull district, in the county of the West Midlands, England, on the eastern fringe of the West Midlands conurbation. Bickenhill is home to Birmingham A ...

on 15 August 1897, the oldest of five children of botanist and of his wife Jane Alkins. She does not appear to have earned a university degree. By 1923 she was working for the Aerodynamics Department of the National Physical Laboratory, where she carried out the entirety of her career. As well as co-authored research papers, 17 of which listed her as first author, her works included translations of research papers from French, German and Russian into English, and a two-volume single-authored book, ''Handbook for Computers'' (1954), describing the mathematics needed for

human computers The term "computer", in use from the early 17th century (the first known written reference dates from 1613), meant "one who computes": a person performing mathematical calculations, before electronic computers became commercially available. Ala ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Skan, Sylvia 1897 births 1972 deaths Scientists from the West Midlands (county) English mathematicians British women mathematicians Applied mathematicians Scientists of the National Physical Laboratory (United Kingdom) People from the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull