Turbulence on a desktop

The article focuses on the use of computers for analysing and simulating turbulent flow. Turbulence theory has a well-earned reputation for being difficult, but, paradoxically, it is so difficult that it is actually accessible. Precisely because it is difficult to make progress analytically, an increasingly important part of turbulence theory is computational. The peculiarities of real turbulence suggest that new mathematics and new physics are waiting to be discovered. The power of even modest computers now opens the door to this avenue of investigation.