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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
March 5, 1 859-A ugust 9, 1958
BY FREDERICK EMMONS TERMAN
WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND began his professional career in
1880, when upon graduation from the U.S. Naval Academy
he was assigned to the U.S.S. Tennessee to look after its steam
engine and associated boiler. This was the largest vessel in the
U.S. Navy and was the flagship of the North Atlantic fleet. It
had a wooden hull and was full-rigged with mast, sails, and
spars; the steam engine was for use when the wind was not
favorable. Durand's last important assignment was assumed in
1941 at age eighty-two, when Vannevar Bush, Chairman of the
National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics, appointed Du-
rand chairman of a committee that was assigned the responsibil-
ity of getting a jet engine for aircraft propulsion designed and
manufactured in the United States. Durand carried this respon-
sibility, as well as concurrently serving as Chairman of the
Engineering Division of the National Research Council, until
mid-1945, a few months beyond his eighty-sixth birthday.
Durand came from early New England stock and was of
mixed English and French-Huguenot blood. He was born
March 5, 1859, at a village now known as Beacon Falls, Con-
necticut, and grew up on a farm near Derby, Connecticut, which
is approximately eight miles west of New Haven. His boyhood
environment was that typical of New England farm and country
town life in the period immediately after the Civil War.
153
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154
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
In school Durand showed unusual aptitude and interest for
mathematics. He also hacl a special fondness for working with
tools in the way of devising implements and apparatus—usually
related to some phase of farm work. As an example, he spent
much time and effort on the design and construction of a horse-
drawn hay rig with operating features that he regarded as supe-
rior to the rig then being used on the family farm.
On the basis of these qualities, his older brother urged him
to compete for entrance to the U.S. Naval Academy because of
its engineering course. The permit necessary to attend the
entrance examination was obtained through a congressman
friend. To further his chances for selection to Annapolis, he
dropped attendance at the high school for the spring of 1876 and
spent the time in the tool room of a factory in a nearby village,
riding to work daily on horseback. Here he gained familiarity
with machine tools, a factor in the examination at Annapolis.
Also that summer he supplemented his rather skimpy high
school education by an intensive coaching review of the subjects
covered by the Annapolis examination offered at the Maryland
Agricultural College (now the University of Maryland). In the
entrance examination Durand ranked tenth among the eighty
applicants. He entered the Naval Academy in the fall of 1876.
The years at the Naval Academy were a turning point in
Durand's life. His school days in New England had provided
little in the way of competition, and he had developed no special
ambition, love of study, or definite purpose. Life at the Naval
Academy, with its keenly competitive features, and with its
appeal to the ambitions and visions of young adults, awakened
him. Although the lessons were long and the examinations
searching, he responded to the challenge. Seventy-three years
later he wrote, "I give emphatic praise to the course of instruc-
tion and to the thorough training at Annapolis. Whatever I may
have been able to accomplish in later years, I credit unreservedly
to this institution and to the training received there." Scholas-
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
155
tically, his class rank was four, three, two, and one in his succes-
sive years, with an overall rank for the four years of number
two. In his last year he was also given the highest cadet rank
for which he was eligible—the so-called three-stripe rank, which
was based upon the general record, including not only class
scholastic standing, but also aptitude for the service. This placed
him in command of the four classes of engineering students at
all general functions, such as dress parades, and also of his own
class at all formalities. Thus did the farm boy from rural New
England discover that he could achieve leadership in a broader
world.
Upon graduation from the Naval Academy in 1880, Durand
was assigned to the U.S.S. Tennessee, as previously indicated.
The next three years were spent on cruises up and down the
Atlantic Coast and among the West Indies. In June of 1883 he
was detached from the Tennessee and ordered to duty in the
design room of the Bureau of Steam Engineering of the Navy
Department, in Washington, D.C. Here he worked on the
design of the engines for the cruiser Chicago, one of the first
four ships of the new steel navy that Congress had authorized
a few years before.
During the three-year cruise on the Tennessee, Durand had
begun to question whether a career in the Navy was best suited
to his tastes and capacities. He also desired to be in a position to
marry and to enjoy family life. A few years earlier a bill had
been passed by Congress providing for the detail of officers in
the Engineering Corps of the Navy to scientific and technical
institutions of learning for the purpose of giving instruction in
steam engineering and iron shipbuilding. Teaching had always
appealed to Durand. He recognized that such an assignment
would provide an opportunity to try out academic work in a
provisional way without a final commitment. Accordingly,
learning that Lafayette College at Easton, Pennsylvania, had
applied for such a detail, Duran(1 took the necessary steps and in
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156 BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
due time was ordered there on temporary detached duty, where
he spent two pleasant years. In the fall, on October 23, 1883, he
married Charlotte Kneen, five months his junior and a classmate
from Derby High School. On June 14, 1885, a son, William
Leavenworth, was born, their only child.
After leaving Lafayette, Durand spent the next eighteen
months on engineering assignments connected with the con-
struction and testing of the new steel ships being built for the
Navy. His most notable experience in this connection was as a
member of the crew of the U.S.S. Dolphin, a so-called dispatch
boat, when this vessel demonstrated its structural soundness by
deliberately steaming full speed into the teeth of a storm off
Cape Hatteras and coming through this ordeal unscathed. This
ship had become the center of a political controversy, having
been contracted for and designed under a Republican adminis-
tration, but offered for acceptance to a succeeding Democratic
administration that questioned its seaworthiness.
During this period, Durand continued to think about his
future and looked with increasing favor upon a career in the
academic world. He sought and obtained an assignment by the
Navy to Worcester Polytechnic Institute in March 1887, with
the thought that this could be a stepping-stone to something
more permanent. The following summer he was offered a posi-
tion at Michigan State College (now Michigan State University)
to organize and direct a new Department of Mechanical Engi-
neering. This he accepted and concurrently resigned from the
Navy as of September 1, 1887. The following year Lafayette
awarded him the Ph.D. degree as a result of studies that he had
initiated during his tour of duty at that institution and had
completed in absentia in 1887-1888.
Durand undertook the organization and development of the
Michigan State Mechanical Engineering Department with great
enthusiasm and within a few years had laid a good foundation
for the future. However, fate had other plans in mind for him.
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
157
In the late spring of 1891 he was offered a professorship in
Mechanical Engineering at Purdue University. Feeling this
position would be a step upward in his academic career, he
accepted, only to discover later in the summer that an opening
existed at Cornell University as head of a new postgraduate
program in Naval Architecture and Marine Engineering in
Cornell's Sibley College. Naturally this opening was attractive
to him, so he contacted Dr. R. H. Thurston, Director of Sibley
College. After due consideration, Thurston informed Durand
that they would like to have him as head of this new program
if he could honorably clear himself of all obligation to Purdue.
This he accomplished through finding a suitable substitute for
. . .
his position.
At Cornell Durand had an opportunity for the first time to
engage systematically in research and other creative work. He
took full advantage of this situation, as is evidenced by the
prodigious stream of publications that came from his pen dur-
ing his thirteen years at Cornell.
Durand's most important work during this period was his
study of the screw propeller. From his early days on the cruise
of the Tennessee, Durand had been interested in the screw pro-
peller and its theory of operation. It appeared to him that
through tests on models it would be possible to relate the physi-
cal proportions and operating conditions of the propeller to its
performance. Cornell hac} a Hydraulic Laboratory with a con-
crete-lined canal that was suitable for such an investigation if
it could be equipped for carrying out the necessary experimental
observations. The apparatus needed included (1) a car with
wheels running on rails laid on either sidle of the canal and fitted
for carrying the model propeller and the necessary electrical
equipment for its operation at any speed along the canal, at any
desired number of revolutions per minute of the model, to-
gether with the measuring equipment for determining the
thrust and input power to the propeller, as well as revolutions
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158
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
per minute; and (2) electrical equipment for propelling the car
at any desired speed along the track with electrical contacts and
registering equipment for determining such speed. Since Cor-
nell had no funds for the necessary equipment, Durand applied
to the Carnegie Institution of Washington for financial help
and was awarded the necessary grant.
Altogether some forty-nine models, each one foot in diam-
eter, were tested for varying form and proportion, area, and
pitch ratio. With the results of such model tests and by the use
of laws of comparison in stepping from model to full scale, it
was then a simple matter to determine the characteristics of a
full-scale propeller to meet any proposed conditions of opera-
tion. The result was to make it possible to design and calculate
the performance of a marine screw propeller on a systematic
basis. Some years later Durand applied this same approach to
pioneering studies of the airplane propeller, as will be subse-
quently recounted.
Durand's work at Cornell was not, however, limited exclu-
sively to work on the screw propeller, as evidenced by the titles
of various papers that he wrote during this period. Two addi-
tional contributions are worthy of particular attention. The first
of these was the introduction around 1892 or 1893 of logarith-
mic cross-section paper. Durand was apparently the first ever to
have had the idea of ruling cross-section paper with intervals
corresponding to the logarithms of the numbers set down on the
axis. As late as 1936 the general catalog of Keuffe] and Esser Co.
listed logarithmic paper under the title, "Durand's Logarithmic
Paper."
Another important contribution during the Cornell period
was the invention of a planimeter for averaging the ordinates
of a diagram plotted in radial (polar) coordinates. As clock re-
cording instruments were becoming common in power plants
and elsewhere, Durand obtained a patent on the crevice and for
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
159
years received royalties from a manufacturer of scientific in-
struments licensed under this patent.
The pleasant rhythm of the Cornell years was suddenly upset
by the unexpected death of Thurston from a heart attack in
October 1903. Durand, who had been made Secretary of Sibley
College by Thurston some years before, was appointed Acting
Director for the remainder of the year while a search was
launched for a successor to Thurston. After the appointment in
the spring of Professor A. W. Smith of Stanford University as
the new Director of Sibley College, Durand decided to apply
for a year of sabbatical leave during which plans could be made
for the future.
However, late in the spring of 1904, fate again intervened in
Durand's life, when President David Starr Jordan of Stanford
persuaded him to fill the vacancy created at Stanford by the
departure of A. W. Smith. Durand served as professor and head
of Mechanical Engineering at Stanford until his retirement in
1924, and as Professor Emeritus until his death on August 9,
1958.
During his first year at Stanford, Durand was also in charge
of the Electrical Engineering Department, along with an as-
signment from Dr. Jordan to find a head for that department.
To this end he consulted extensively with his close friend Harris
I. Ryan of Cornell, who had already achieved distinction for
studies of corona generated by high-voltage electrical power
lines. During the course of these consultations, he discovered
that Ryan might himself be interested in this opening. The
result was that Ryan came to Stanford in 1905 as head of the
Department of Electrical Engineering, a position that he filled
with great distinction, as indicated by his election to the Na-
tional Academy of Sciences in 1920.
At Stanford the Durands quickly adjusted to their new cir-
cumstances. In 1905 they built a home on a hill that overlooked
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160
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
the university buildings and that also provided a breathtaking
view of San Francisco Bay and the northern end of the Santa
Clara Valley. They were delighted when the Ryans built a
home on an adjacent lot in 1906.
The San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906, caused
major damage to Stanford's buildings. During the following two
years, Durand gave much of his spare time to service on a three-
man faculty Board of Engineering responsible for making the
temporary repairs required to enable the University to reopen
in the fall, and for planning the permanent restoration of the
damaged structures.
In planning for the Panama Pacific International Exposi-
tion, held in San Francisco in 1915, the major engineering soci-
eties of the United States decided to hold a worldwide Engineer-
ing Congress. Durand was appointed chairman of the local Com-
mittee of Management and spent much of his time for several
years getting together an adequate staff, making plans for the
Congress, and inviting delegates from the leading nations to
write papers to be read before it. Finally came the Congress
itself, with a great opening session, an address by General Goe-
thals, who had accepted the post of Honorary President, recep-
tions, banquets, technical sessions, etc. Thereafter came the
work of gathering together all the papers read before the Con-
gress and the related discussions, and preparing this material
for publication. This latter phase was interrupted by World
War I, and was not finally completed until around 1920.
With his fluid mechanics background, it was natural for
Durand to become interested in the water and power problems
of the western United States. He retained this interest until the
end of his life. For some thirty years he served as a consultant
to the Bureau of Power and Light of the City of Los Angeles
in the construction and design of its water and electrical supply
systems. For the City of San Francisco there was a period of
three or four years' service in connection with the design and
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
161
construction of the Hetch Hetchy Dam and the associated water
supply and hydroelectric power installations. He also helped
the Metropolitan Water District of California in the design and
construction of pumping equipment for the Colorado River
canal to bring river water to Los Angeles and other cities. As a
by-product of these assignments, he did significant research on
hydraulic machinery, the hydraulics of pipelines, and the theory
of the surge chamber.
In spite of these new activities, Durand never lost his interest
in the problems of the screw propeller. With the development
of the airplane, he began to give attention to the airplane pro-
peller, and in the 1914 volume of the Journal of the Franklin
Institute he has a twenty-seven-page paper, "The Screw Pro-
peller; with Special Reference to Airplane Propulsion." In that
same year he attended a conference in Washington, D.C., called
by Charles D. Walcott, Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution,
the purpose of which was to consider ways and means for awak-
ening and stimulating interest in aeronautical science, with
particular reference to activity on the part of the government.
This conference developed a background that led to a bill en-
acted by Congress the following year providing for the organi-
zation of the National Advisory Committee on Aeronautics
(NACA, now NASA), which was "to supervise and direct scien-
tific study of the problems of flight with a view to their practical
solution." President Wilson appointed Durand as one of the
five civilian members of this Committee, which held its first
meeting in the spring of 1915.
At this first meeting Durand set forth the need for experi-
mental studies of the air propeller analogous to those of ship
propellers he had carried on at Cornell. This proposal met with
favor by the Committee, and led later to a contract with Stan-
ford University for carrying out such an investigation under
NACA sponsorship. This contract called for an expenditure of
$4000 for the initial year, including the cost of building and
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162
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
instrumenting the wind tunnel that would be used in carrying
out the tests. Even allowing for the charade in purchasing power
that has occured since 1916, this is indeed a modest sum for
the first definitive investigation on a basic topic, especially
when compared with present-day grants.
This was the beginning of a long series of researches on air
propellers performed at Stanford with the help of Professor
E. P. Lesley, which extended over the following dozen or so
years ~ Over one hundred model propellers were tested in a
wind tunnel under widely varying conditions of operation, and
principles of design were established. The resulting reports
were the authoritative sources for design data for many years.
This investigation included the first experimental study made in
the United States of the variable-pitch propeller, which in time
came into almost universal use in all propeller-driven airplanes.
It also included a thorough comparison of the measured data
with theoretically computed characteristics for eight of the
model propellers, as well as a comparison of model results with
full-scale flight-test data, which were obtained under Lesley's
direction at the Langley Laboratory of NACA. The latter com-
parison, which necessarily involved the testing of the propeller
in combination with a fuselage, gave rise to the important
concept of propulsive efficiency for such combinations. This
became a standard analytical tool in the design of propeller-
driven aircraft.
At the second meeting of NACA, held in the fall of 1916,
Durand was chosen chairman. Upon the entry of the United
States into World War I in the spring of 1917, Durand took a
leave of absence from Stanford and moved to Washington, D.C.
hit is significant that these studies of propellers were conducted with little or
no involvement of graduate students. Neither were they used as a vehicle to
recruit and develop young faculty members of outstanding promise. In spite of
his diverse accomplishments and leadership qualities of high order, Durand was
not notable as an organizer of academic programs or as a developer of faculty
talent.
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
183
1901
The marine steam boiler; an elementary discussion of the principles
controlling the generation of steam. Mar. Eng., 6:36-37.
The marine steam engine; overhauling and repairs. Mar. Eng., 6:
211-14.
Practical Marine Engineering for Marine Engineers and Students,
with Aids for Applicants for Marine Engineers' Licenses. New
York: Marine Engineering, Inc. 706 pp. 2d ea., 1902.
Problem of the connecting rod. Sibley l. Eng., 15:188-95, 339~4.
Speed and power trials of ships. Sibley l. Eng., 15:309-14.
Discussion of: The theoretical and practical methods of balancing
marine engines, by D. W. Taylor. Trans. Soc. Nav. Archit. Mar.
Eng., 9:133-34.
1902
The equipment of the canal of the hydraulic laboratory of Cornell
University for experimental work on the resistance and propul-
sion of ships. Sibley l. Eng., 16: 141-49.
Graphical chart for the solution of valve-gear problems. J. Am. Soc.
Nav. Eng., 14:1141-50.
John Ericsson: navies of war and commerce. Chapter in: Beacon
Lights of History, vol. XIV. ed. bv John Lord. on. 197-247. New
J A ' 1 1
York: James Clarke & Co.
Discussion of: The vibrations of steamships, with special reference
to those of second higher period, by George W. Melville. Trans.
Soc. Nav. Archit. Mar. Eng., 10:228-29.
1903
Design of motor launches. Mar. Eng., 8: 11-18.
Employment of the air propeller for motorboat propulsion. Auto-
mobile, 8:616-17.
The powering and propulsion of small boats. Mar. Eng., 8:121-26.
A problem connected with the screw propeller. l. Am. Soc. Nav.
Eng., 15:887-901.
Propellers for launches. (Reply to E. R. Koile) Mar. Eng., 8:322.
Robert Henry Thurston. Smithsonian Institution, Annual Report,
pp. 843-49.
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184
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Special methods of determining groups of curves representing engi-
neering formulae. Sibley l. Eng., 17:321-33.
On a special type of boat for transporting grain and ore on the
Great Lakes of North America. (Sur un type special de navires
destines au transport des grains ou du mineral de fer sur les
Grands Lacs de l'Amerique du Nord) Bulletin de ['association
technique maritime, Session de 1903, no. 14.
Water power development. Engineer, 40:44-46.
1904
The law of comparison in engineering structures. Sibley J. Eng.,
18:362-74.
Problem of the auto boat. Automobile, 11 :255-56, 331-32, 405-7.
Robert Henry Thurston. Proceedings, Washington Academy of Sci-
ences, b:419-21.
1905
Experimental researches on the performance of screw propellers.
Trans. Soc. Nav. Archit. Mar. Eng., 13:71-85.
Fourier's analysis applied to the plain slide valve gear. Sibley J. Eng.,
19: 356-66.
Lines of progress in marine engineering. Pac. Mar. Rev., 2:9-11.
Marine engineering. Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 54(part C):183-241,
261-68.
Discussion of: Naval architecture in Great Britain, by William H.
White. Trans. Am. Soc. Civ. Eng., 54(part D):124-26.
Practical points about the screw propeller. Mar. Eng., 10: 14-17,
58-60, 115-19, 168-72.
Motor boats. Mar. Eng., 10:278-80, 319-21, 385-88, 415-17, 456-57,
490-94.
1906
Collision forces in automobiles. Sci. Am. Suppl., 62:25775-76.
Superheated steam. Eng. Rec., 54:86-87.
Commercial factors in power plant problems. Eng. Rec., 54:113-14,
141-42.
The molding of propellers. International Marine Engineering, 11
184-88.
.
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
185
Motor boats. Mar. Eng., 11:21-23, 68-70, 93-96, 148-50, 180-82,
236-37, 277-81, 308-11, 366-67, 403-5.
1907
Improved transmission dynamometer. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng.,
28:697-703.
Motor boats. Mar. Eng., 12:29-32.
Motor Boats; a Thoroughly Scientific Discussion of Their Design,
Construction and Operation. With additional chapters on the
uses of kerosene and alcohol in internal combustion engines.
London, New York: International Marine Engineering. 200 pp.
Power plant of the Sperry Flour Company, Los Angeles, California.
Eng. Rec., 55 :408-10.
Progress in marine engineering during the year 1906. Pac. Mar.
Rev., 4:19-20.
Researches on the Performance of the Screw Propeller. Washington,
D.C.: Carnegie Institution of Washington (Publication no. 79~.
61 pp.
Test of power plant of Home Gas Company, Redlands, California.
Engineer, 44:804-8.
A transmission dynamometer. Am. Mach., 30:883-84.
1908
An averaging instrument for polar diagrams. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech.
Eng., 30: 1201-6.
1909
The Resistance and Propulsion of Ships. 2d ed. rev. New York: John
Wiley & Sons, Inc. 427 pp.
Some things about steam. l. Electr. Power Gas, 23:407-8.
1910
Impressions of recent hydro-electric practice in Switzerland. Eng.
Rec., 62:536-39.
Opportunities, responsibilities and training necessary for success in
the engineering field. l. Electr. Power Gas, 24:95-102.
The physical meaning of entropy. Journal of Electricity, 25:488-90.
With H. J. Ryan and O. H. Ensign. Preliminary Report of Consult-
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186
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
ing Board of Engineers of the Bureau of Los Angeles Aqueduct
Power. Los Angeles, February 12.
Proposed form of seismograph intended to give a direct indication
of the forces in play. Bulletin, Geological Society of America,
20:708-10. (A)
1911
On the control of surges in water conduits. l. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng.,
33: 671-710. Discussion, 34: 363-77.
A Pacific Coast Navy. Navy, b:25-30.
Practical Marine Engineering for Marine Engineers and Students,
with Aids for Applicants for Marine Engineers' Licenses. 3d ed.
New York: Marine Engineering, Inc. 794 pp.
1912
On the control of surges in water conduits. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech.
Eng., 34:319-77.
1913
Developments in prime movers. Electr. World, 61:7-9.
Investigation of surge phenomena by means of model experiments.
Western Engineering, 3:421-31.
1914
Developments in prime movers. Electr. World, 63: 15-16.
The interpretation of electric current flow in terms of the electron
theory. l. Electr. Power Gas, 32: 175-79.
The screw propeller; with special reference to aeroplane propulsion.
J. Franklin Inst., 178:259-86.
1915
Progress in the field of mechanical engineering during recent years.
J. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 37:viii-x.
Recent developments in prime movers. Electr. World, 65: 19-21.
1916
Final report on the Columbia River power project. l. Electr. Power
Gas, 37: 125-26.
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
187
Flow of steam in pipes. Power, 43:324-25; also in J. Am. Soc. Mech.
Eng., 38:354.
Marine engineering. In: Mechanical Engineers Handbook, ed. by
L. S. Marks, pp. 1229~. 1st ed. New York: McGraw-Hill Book
Co.
Second Annual Report of the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics, 1916, W. F. Durand, Chairman. Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Govt. Print. Off. 19 pp.
Significant developments in prime movers. Electr. World, 67:18-19.
1917
The aircraft problem. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 39:508-17.
The applications of science. Scientific Monthly, b:146-53.
Experimental Research on Air Propellers, I. National Advisory
Committee for Aeronautics Technical Report no. 14. 58 pp.
Also in Annual Report for 1917, pp. 83-138. Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
Mechanical aspects of aeronautics (Symposium on Aeronautics).
Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society, 56:170-88.
Practical Marine Engineering for Marine Engineers and Students,
with Aids foil A pplicants for Marine Engineers' Licenses. 4th ea.,
revised and enlarged by Captain C. W. Dyson. New York: Marine
Engineering, Inc. 982 pp.
Progress and outlook in prime movers. Electr. World, 69:22-24.
Third Annual Report of the National Advisory Committee for
Aeronautics, 1917, W. F. Durand, Chairman. Washington, D.C.:
U.S. Govt. Print. Off. 32 pp.
1918
The Aerodynamic Laboratory at Leland Stanford Junior University
and the equipment installed with reference to tests on air pro-
pellers. Journal of Society of Automotive Engineers, 2:230-38;
also in Aeronautics, London, 14:335-43.
The aircraft problem. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 39:508-17.
America's air service. J. Franklin Inst., 185: 1-27.
With E. P. Lesley. Experimental Research on Air Propellers, II.
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Technical Report
no. 30. 65 pp. Also in Annual Report for 1918, pp. 261-320.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
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188
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Modern aeronautics. Automat. Ind., 39:368-70, 42~26, 464-67; also
inSci.Am.Suppl., 86:130-31, 150-51, 166-67.
Note on a theorem in mechanics. Sibley l. Eng., 32:48-50.
Outstanding problems in aeronautics. Aeronautical Journal, Lon-
don,22: 183-201.
Problems in aeronautics. In: Problems of Aeroplane Improvement,
pp. 11-15. Bulletin no. 3 issued by Naval Consulting Board and
Engineering Council's War Committee of Technical Societies,
Washington, D.C. New York: U.S. Naval Consulting Board.
Paris under the long range gun. The Stanford Sequoia, Stanford
University, 27(spring issue): 1-6.
1919
Analysis of the need for civil aviation. Automot. Ind., 41:872-75,
922-24, 968-71, 1020-24.
With E. P. Lesley. Experimental Research on Air Propellers, III.
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Technical Report
no. 64. 35 pp. Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
1920
With E. P. Lesley. Experimental Research on Air Propellers, IV.
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Technical Report
no. 109. 11 pp. Also in Annual Report for 1920, pp. 681-89.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
The hydraulics of oil pipe lines. l. Electr., 44:434-39.
Appendix to: The Problem of the Helicopter, by E. P. Warner, pp.
16-18. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Technical
Note no. 4.
Shock of water ram in pipe lines with imperfect reflection at the
discharge end and including change of valve opening. Proceed-
ings of the National Academy of Sciences USA, 6:441~2.
Water hammer in pipe lines. Engineering News-Record, 85:1212-
16.
1921
Application of the law of kinematic similitude to the surge-chamber
problem. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 43:1177-1200. Discussion
in: Mech. Eng., 1922, 44:541, 542, 764, 857, 858; 1923, 45:22.
With E. P. Lesley. Experimental Research on Air Propellers, V.
National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Technical Report
OCR for page 189
WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
189
no. 141. 82 pp. Also in Annual Report for 1921, pp. 16~241.
Washington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
Hydraulics of Pipe Lines. New York: D. Van Nostrand Co. 271 pp.
The Joseph Henry Fund of the National Academy of Sciences.
Science, 54:542~3.
Stanford War Memorial, a suggestion. Stanford Illustrated Review,
22:308.
With E. P. Lesley. Tests on Air Propellers in Yaw. National Ad-
visory Committee for Aeronautics Technical Report no. 113.
37 pp. Also in Annual Report for 1921, pp. 93-127.
1924
Discussion of: Aeronautics in naval architecture, by J. C. Hunsaker.
Trans. Soc. Nav. Archit. Mar. Eng., 32:17-19.
Discussion of: Comparison of model propeller experiments in three
nations, by D. W. Taylor. Trans. Soc. Nav. Archit. Mar. Eng.,
32:79.
With E. P. Lesley. Com parison of Mod el Pro pelter Tests with A ir-
foil Theory. National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics
Technical Report no. 196. 26 pp.
Marine engineering. Section in: Mechanical Engirzeer's Handbook,
ed. by L. S. Marks, pp. 1300-1321. 2d ed. New York: McGraw-
Hill Book Co.
Simpson's rules generalized. Mech. Eng., 46: 885-86.
1925
With E. P. Lesley. Comparison of Tests on Air Propellers in Flight
with Wind Tunnel Model Tests on Similar Forms. National
Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Technical Report no. 220.
29 pp. Also in Annual Report for 1925, pp. 273-99.
The engineer and civilization. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 47:553-
68.
The problem of the Colorado River. Mech. Eng., 47:79-84.
Discussion of: Helicopters, by Alexander Klemin. Mech. Eng., 47:
268.
1926
Science and engineering. Mech. Eng., 48: 337~0.
Review of: The hydraulic laboratories of Europe (Die waserbaula-
boratorien Europas). Mech. Eng., 48:1491-92.
OCR for page 190
190
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
Interaction Between Air Propellers and Airplane Structures. Na-
tional Advisory Committee for Aeronautics Technical Report
no. 235. 23 pp. Also in Annual Report for 1926, pp. 107-27.
Science and civilization. Science, 64: 167-73.
Tests on Thirteen Navy Ty pe Mod el Pro pelters. National Advisory
Committe for Aeronautics Technical Report no. 237. 17 pp.
Also in Annual Report for 1926, pp. 153-65.
1927
Some problems of life and destiny. Bulletin of the University of
Utah, vol. 17, no. 13.
1928
Aeronautic Education. The Guggenheim Fund for the Promotion
of Aeronautics, Inc. g pp.
Problems of the Colorado River. U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. De-
velopment of the Lower Colorado River. Report by special
advisers to the Secretary of the Interior, pp. 379~18. Washing-
ton, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off. U.S. Congress: House Committee
on Irrigation and Reclamation. Protection and Development of
the Lower Colorado River Basin. Hearings, Seventieth Congress,
first session on H. R. 5773, pp. 476-514. Washington, D.C.: U.S.
Govt. Print. Off.
The public needs aeronautic education. Airway Age, 9~8~:21-23.
From the scientific standpoint; Wright's accomplishments constitute
fine example of application of true scientific methods. Airway
Age, 9412~:27-28.
1929
Historical sketch of the development of aerodynamic theory. Aero-
nautical Engineering (ASME Transactions), 1: 13-19.
Robert Henry Thurston; A Biography, The Record of a Life of
Achievement as Engineer, Educator, and Author. New York:
American Society of Mechanical Engineers. 301 pp.
1930
Genesis and evolution. Am. Mach., 72:567-68.
How old is the engineer? Engineers and Engineering, 47:285-88.
Hydraulic theory. Mech. Eng., 52:367-70.
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
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Marine engineering. Section in: Mechanical Engineer's Handbook,
ed. by L.S. Marks, pp. 1493-1512. 3d ed. New York: McGraw-
Hill Book Co.
Proof of the Theorem Regarding the Distribution of Lift Over
the Span for Minimum Induced Drag. National Advisory Com-
mittee for Aeronautics Technical Report no. 349. 15 pp. Wash-
ington, D.C.: U.S. Govt. Print. Off.
Rear Admiral Taylor's achievements in aeronautics an apprecia-
tion. Trans. Soc. Nav. Archit. Mar. Eng., 38:323.
1931
Problems of the screw propeller. Pac. Mar. Rev., 28:365-67.
1932
The Zuider Zee Reclamation Project. Mech. Eng., 54:520.
1933
The development of our knowledge of the laws of fluid mechanics.
Science, 78: 343-51.
1934
Editor-in-Chief of: Aerodynamic Theory, 6 vols. Berlin: Julius
Springer, 1934-36. Reprinted 1943 by Durand Reprinting Com-
mittee.
Mathematical aids. In: Aerodynamic Theory, vol. 1, div. A, pp. 1-
104. Berlin: Julius Springer. Reprinted 1943 by Durand Re-
printing Committee.
Fluid mechanics, part I. In: Aerodynamic Theory, vol. 1, div. B. pp.
105-223. Berlin: Julius Springer. Reprinted 1943 by Durand
Reprinting Committee.
1935
Discussion of: Photoflow method of water measurement, by W. M.
White and W. [on Rheingans. Trans. Am. Soc. Mech. Eng., 58:
157-58.
Report of Special Committee on Airships, W. F. Durand, Chairman.
National Academy of Sciences Report no. 1/~-5, 4 vole., 1936-
37. Stanford: Stanford Univ. Press.
Why the engineer? Electr. Eng., 55: 1301-3.
OCR for page 192
192
BIOGRAPHICAL MEMOIRS
1937
Lewis Muhlenberg Haupt (1844-1937~. In: Yearbook of the Ameri-
can Philosophical Society, pp. 358-61. Philadelphia: American
Philosophical Society.
lg38
Address, Second Congress of the International Commission on Large
Dams. Transactions of the Second Congress on Large Dams,
Washington, D.C., vol. 1, pp. 172-77.
Harris Joseph Ryan, 1866-1934. In: National Academy of Sciences,
Biographical Memoirs, vol. 19, pp. 285-306.
Development of standard code for large welded steel pipe for hy-
draulic purposes. Welding Journal, 17: 37~0.
The Wright brothers. Journal of the Aeronautical Sciences, 5:111-
12.
1939
Dr. Robert Henry Thurston's eighteen years at Cornell. Science, 90:
547-52.
Modern Trends in Air Transport. Smithsonian Report for 1939, pp.
513-33. Washington, D.C.: Smithsonian Institution.
The outlook in fluid mechanics. J. Franklin Inst., 228:183-212.
The Pelton water wheel. I. Developments by Pelton and others
prior to 1880. Mech. Eng., 61:447-54. II. Developments by Doble
and others, 1880 to date. Mech. Eng., 61:511-18.
With R. D. Calkins and W. H. Rich. Report of the Board of Con-
sultants on the Fish Problems of the Upper Columbia River.
Denver: U.S. Bureau of Reclamation. 83 pp.
1940
The flow of water in channels under steep gradients. Trans. Am.
Soc. Mech. Eng., 62:g-14.
A general view of the Central Valley Project. Commonwealth Club
of California Transactions, 34: 241-45.
New obligations in aeronautics. Journal of Engineering Education,
31:110-17.
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WILLIAM FREDERICK DURAND
1941
193
Aims and objects of American Society of Mechanical Engineers.
Mech. Eng., 63:667-70, 91~16.
Ionization as a factor in fluid mechanics. In: Theodore Con Barman
Anniversary Volume; Contributions to Applied Mechanics and
Related Subjects by the Friends of Theodore Con Barman on his
Sixtieth Birthday, pp. 76-84. Pasadena: Calif. Inst. of Tech-
nology.
Ames Laboratory crowns NACA progress. Aviation, 43:123.
1946
Jet propulsion. Mech. Eng., 68:191-93; see also Engineers Digest
(British edition), 7:281-82.
1947
Early engineering education and the United States Navy. Proceed-
ings, U.S. Naval Institute, 73: 167-77.
1948
Orville Wright. Mech. Eng., 70:581-85.
1949
Orville Wright, 1871-1948. In: National Academy of Sciences, Bio-
graphical Memoirs, vol. 25, pp. 259-74.
George W. Lewis, 1882-1948. In: National Academy of Sciences,
Biographical Memoirs, vol. 25, pp. 297-312.
1953
Adventures in the Navy, in Education, Science, Engineering and in
War; a Life Story. New York: The American Society of Mechan-
ical Engineers and McGraw-Hill Book Co. 212 pp.
Representative terms from entire chapter:
william frederick
