The phenomenon of evaporation in the natural environment is of interest
in various diverse disciplines. This book is an attempt to present a
coherent and organized introduction to theoretical concepts and
relationships useful in analyzing this phe- nomenon, and to give an
outline of their history and their application. The main objective is to
provide a better understanding of evaporation, and to connect some of
the approaches and paradigms, that have been developed in different
disciplines concerned with this phenomenon. The book is intended for
professional scientists and engineers, who are active in hydrology,
meteorology, agronomy, oceanography, climatology and related environ-
mental fields, and who wish to study prevailing concepts on evaporation.
At the same time, I hope that the book will be useful to workers in
fluid dynamics, who want to become acquainted with applications to an
important and interesting natural phenomenon. As suggested in its
subtitle, the book consists of three major parts. The first, consisting
of Chapters I and 2, gives a general ouline of the problem and a history
of the theories of evaporation from ancient times through the end of the
nineteenth century. This history is far from exhaustive, but it sket hes
the background and the ideas that led directly to the scientific
revolution in Europe and, ultimately, to our present-day knowledge.