Reynolds: a dynamical criterion for incompressible viscous flow

What changed

A scale-dependent dynamical criterion organized the transition between direct and eddying flow.

Scientific scope

Exact 1895 theory paper; prior 1883 experiments, later stability theory and all Reynolds-number uses excluded.

Evidence

The linked sources identify this contribution and its scope. WRS has not independently reconstructed the scientific claims. The record is Reynolds’s exact 1895 paper. Navier–Stokes equations, Reynolds’s earlier experiments, later stability theory and all uses of the Reynolds number remain separate contributions.

Contributors

• Osborne Reynolds · SCIENCE: Named source author of the scoped work; individual effort shares are not measured.

• Reynolds, On the dynamical theory of incompressible viscous fluids
• Crossref record for Reynolds 1895

Provisional WRS assessment, edition 2026-10-16.1. Independent expert calibration is pending. This grade does not certify correctness or assign ownership.

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