The first thing that must be said about this book is that the title is misleading. The author concentrates on the analysis of open-channel flow, and the book is evidently aimed at researchers, students, and engineers working in this branch of fluid mechanics. There is no mention of the sea or lakes (except in the special context of reservoirs), or surface waves (except in their relation to bedforms). Although parts of the book contain much that is relevant to workers in other aspects of fluid mechanics, a more accurate title would be "Erosion and Sedimentation in Open-Channel Flow".
That said, the book contains a great deal of useful material. A brief introduction (Chapter 1) is followed by sections on the physical properties of sediments and dimensional analysis (Chapter 2), the basic principles of fluid mechanics, including the equations of continuity, momentum, and energy (Chapter 3), particle motion in inviscid fluids (Chapter 4), and particle motion in viscous (Newtonian) fluids (Chapter 5). Numerous fundamental equations are presented, mainly in Cartesian coordinates, although versions for cylindrical and spherical coordinates are quoted for continuity, Euler and Navier-Stokes equations. These equations are clearly set out, and their components described, particularly the distinction between local (temporal) and spatial accelerations.
An important section (Chapter 6) deals with velocity profiles in shear flows, specifically the logarithmic profile and deviations from it, together with the behavior of rough and smooth plane boundaries. Most of the remaining sections of the book deal with mechanics of sediment transport, covering the initiation of sediment motion (Chapter 7), the evolution of bedforms (Chapter 8), bedload and different models used to describe bedload transport (Chapter 9), suspended load, including models typically used for the concentration profile and suspended-sediment discharge (Chapter 10). The latter also contains a short section on hyperconcentrations. The two final chapters (Chapters 11 and 12) deal with the total load (bedload and suspended load) and reservoir sedimentation. The text ends with an appendix, summarizing H.A. Einstein's sediment transport "method".
Many of the chapters contain examples using formulas discussed therein. Mathematical exercises are found at the end of all chapters
except Chapter 1. This is a very valuable aspect of the book and will no doubt prove useful for teaching.
In spite of the usefulness of the material it contains, the book has some clear deficiencies, some specific and others of a more general nature. The standard results, where presented, are often crammed into the available space so there is no room for a proper explanation of the rationale behind the equations. Many results are presented to the reader without prior discussion, and none are accompanied by standard references where the derivations may be followed up or checked. It is not clear what assumptions lie behind a particular equation, and what are the results if changes are made in parameters. There are no references for further reading at the end of the chapters, and only a rather restricted list at the end of the book.
The discussion of some subjects is so brief that the considerable advances made in recent years are overlooked. For example, with regard to bedforms, no mention is made of the large body of recent work on bedform theory. Only in the appendix is there any reference to models of suspended-sediment entrainment allowing an estimate of the reference concentration near the bed.
The index at the end of the book is inadequate. The reader will search in vain under the main headings for subjects like "shear flow", "bottom stress", or "reference concentration". Even subjects such as advection, drag coefficient, and shear velocity are relegated to secondary headings. Readers will have difficulty relocating a particular section, unless they have noted the relevant passage, or have an exceptional memory. This will be especially true for readers new to the subject, like undergraduate or early post-graduate students. On the other hand, the book could be a handy reference for someone already familiar with the concepts involved, for example, if they need to check a particular standard result.
A few more specific comments are necessary. The fairly comprehensive list of symbols, at the beginning of the book, suffers from a few omissions. More seriously, it does not point out that the convention used in the book for Cartesian axes is y-lateral and z-vertical, although the alternative (z-lateral and y-vertical) is also widely used in the literature. In spite of this, the descriptions of Einstein's model in the appendix uses y as a dimensionless vertical coordinate. Again, the term "convective" is used for the spatial acceleration terms in the early part of the book, whereas the equivalent terms in the discussion of suspended load (Chapter 10) are called "advective".
At $54.95 (hardbound), I am not sure whether I would buy a personal copy of this book. However, it would be a useful reference to have on the library shelves.
H.M. PANTIN
Department of Earth Sciences
University of Leeds
Leeds LS2 9JT
United Kingdom
Source
http://archives.datapages.com/data/sepm/journals/v66-67/data/068/068003/0519.HTM