Physically similar systems - a history of the concept
pp. 377-411
in: Lorenzo Magnani, Tommaso Bertolotti (eds), Springer handbook of model-based science, Berlin, Springer, 2017Abstract
The concept of similar systems arose in physics and appears to have originated with Newton in the seventeenth century. This chapter provides a critical history of the concept of physically similar systems , the twentieth century concept into which it developed. The concept was used in the nineteenth century in various fields of engineering (Froude , Bertrand, Reech ), theoretical physics (van der Waals , Onnes , Lorentz , Maxwell , Boltzmann ), and theoretical and experimental hydrodynamics (Stokes , Helmholtz , Reynolds , Prandtl , Rayleigh ). In 1914, it was articulated in terms of ideas developed in the eighteenth century and used in nineteenth century mathematics and mechanics: equations, functions, and dimensional analysis. The terminology physically similar systems was proposed for this new characterization of similar systems by the physicist Edgar Buckingham . Related work by Vaschy , Bertrand, and Riabouchinsky had appeared by then. The concept is very powerful in studying physical phenomena both theoretically and experimentally. As it is not currently a part of the core curricula of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM ) disciplines or philosophy of science, it is not as well known as it ought to be.