This book is intended as a combination of a reference for pump experts and a monograph for advanced students interested in some of the basic problems associated with pumps. It is dedicated to my friend and colleague Allan Acosta, with whom it has been my pleasure and privilege to work for many years.

But this book has other roots as well. It began as a series of notes prepared for a short course presented by Concepts NREC and presided over by another valued colleague, David Japikse. Another friend, Yoshi Tsujimoto, read early versions of the manuscript and made many valuable suggestions.

It was a privilege to have worked on turbomachinery problems with a group of talented students at the California Institute of Technology, including Sheung-Lip Ng, David Braisted, Javier Del Valle, Greg Hoffman, Curtis Meissner, Edmund Lo, Belgacem Jery, Dimitri Chamieh, Douglas Adkins, Norbert Arndt, Ronald Franz, Mike Karyeaclis, Rusty Miskovish, Abhijit Bhattacharyya, Adiel Guinzburg, and Joseph Sivo. I recognize the many contributions they made to this book.

In the first edition, I wrote that this work would not have been possible without the encouragement, love, and companionship of my beloved wife Doreen. Since then fate has taken her from me and I dedicate this edition to our daughters, Dana and Kathy, whose support has been invaluable to me.