Re-Entry Aerodynamics (AIAA Education)

Very short and highly math based but a good companion to other books in the series such as Reentry Vehicle Dynamics.

This book's presentation of the material is not the most rigorous. Additionally, while a good effort is made to break the field into essential topics according to the book's four chapters, a fifth chapter on integrating the materials would have been excellent.

I personally avoid aerodynamics like the plague even though I have a dual degree in both Aero and Astro! I came across Hankey's book when I was writing my own book on astrodynamic reentry and decided it was an excellent resource for those of us that needed the information but didn't want to wade through 4 or 5 books the size of encyclopedias.The book is very readable if you have some background in aerodynamics. Don't let the small page count fool you -- it's full of good information and the derivations are generally detailed enough that they don't leave you scratching your head trying to figure out the missing steps. The price is quite reasonable for anything that AIAA has stuck their name on.