The Smooth Dance of Two Spheres: An Exact Calculation in Fluid Mechanics

By Kengo Ichiki

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CALCULATE SOMETHING EXACTLY?

Most calculations stop once an approximation is good enough. This book follows one classical problem all the way to an exact result: the hydrodynamic interaction of two spheres in a viscous fluid.

Working through the core ideas of a 1984 paper, Kengo Ichiki moves from Stokes flow to recurrence relations, working code, arbitrary-precision arithmetic, and tables of exact rational coefficients. In the process, he opens a door into physics research rarely seen outside academic papers.

Yet exact science is a deeply human undertaking. Drawing on his life as a physicist and programmer, Ichiki also tells the human story behind the work: the mentors and collaborators, the wrong turns, and the passion, struggles, and dogged persistence that carry research forward.

AN INVITATION TO CURIOUS READERS WHO WANT BOTH THE MATHEMATICS AND THE HUMAN STORY.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: B0HDL7YX84
• ISBN13: 9798191404905
• Release Date: August 2026
• Publisher: Independently Published
• Length: 126 Pages
• Weight: 0.39 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.3" x 6.0" x 9.0"