Birthday of Daniel Bernoulli (1700) — The Mathematics of Flowing Water

Daniel Bernoulli was born in Groningen on February 8, 1700, into the most mathematically prolific family in history. His 1738 book Hydrodynamica contained what we now call Bernoulli's principle: in a moving fluid, increased speed corresponds to decreased pressure. Mathematically: P + ½ρv² + ρgh = constant along a streamline. It is a statement of the conservation of energy applied to fluids. A aircraft wing generates lift because air moves faster over the curved top (lower pressure) than the flat bottom (higher pressure). Every flight in history depends on this eighteenth-century equation.