Approximate Bodies examines, in fascinating detail, the changing representation of the body in early modern drama and in the period's anatomical and gynaecological treatises.

Summary: Approximate solutions of the nonlinear equations of the small disturbance theory of transonic flow are found for the pressure distribution on pointed slender bodies of revolution for flows with free-stream Mach number 1, and for flows that are either purely subsonic or purely supersonic. These results are obtained by application of a method based on local linearization that was introduced recently in the analysis of similar problems in low-dimensional flows. The theory is developed for bodies of arbitrary shapes, and specific results are given for cone-cylinders and for parabolic-arc bodies at zero angle of attack. All results are compared either with existing theoretical results or with experimental data.

Approximate analytical solutions are presented for two-dimensional and axisymmetric hypersonic flow over slender power law bodies. Both zero-order (M->∞) and first-order (small but nonvanishing values of 1/(Mδ)2) solutions are presented, where M is free-stream Mach number and δ is a characteristic slope. These solutions are compared with exact numerical integrations of the equations of motion and appear to be accurate particularly when the shock is relatively close to the body.

The analysis includes nonconstant spin rates and inertias and considers the effects of time-varying thrust misalinements, mass unbalance, and jet damping. The method was developed for bodies having small transverse angular velocities. Results are presented in the form of equations for space-referenced Euler angles, flight-path angles, body-referenced attitude rates, and earth-referenced vehicle-trajectory coordinates. Also, equations for maximum wobble have been derived for certain input conditions. Comparisons with numerical solutions are included for two sample problems.