ABSTRACT
This paper discusses Henry Darcy’s distinguished contributions to science and engineering. In addition to Darcy’s Law, Darcy made major contributions to pipe hydraulics and pipe friction coefficient analyses that are acknowledged in the joint naming of the Darcy-Weisbach pipe head loss equation. He also furnished the very first evidence of the fluid boundary layer. Darcy combined his law with continuity to develop the first falling head permeameter solution that we use today and he applied it in the analysis of spring discharge. His work on open channel flow with Bazin and his breakthroughs in pipe friction research were made possible through improvements he made to the Pitot tube used for measuring point water velocity. This paper will demonstrate that Darcy made numerous contributions to the study of hydraulics. Whilst Darcy is immortalised by Darcy’s Law, it is immediately evident that his scientific legacy extends beyond it.
