User:J Doug McLean

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I am an aeronautical engineer (BA, Physics, University of California at Riverside, 1965 and PhD, Aeronautical Engineering, Princeton University, 1970). I joined the Aerodynamics staff of Boeing Commercial Airplanes in 1974 and have worked there ever since on a range of problems, both computational and experimental, in the areas of viscous flow, drag reduction, and aerodynamic design. My current title is Boeing Technical Fellow, but any opinion I express here is my own and in no way represents the opinions of The Boeing Company.

Some of my after-hours interests also have a strong fluid dynamics tilt: model airplanes, rowing, sailing, and the theoretical aspects of high-speed sailcraft. I also enjoy recumbent cycling, hiking, and photography.

Philosophically I am definitely a materialist and rationalist. I'm confident that science, in spite of missteps here and there, generally progresses toward greater knowledge and understanding (not the same as wisdom). Nothing in science is ever proved, however, and anything that qualifies as science must always be considered open to being contradicted in the future. The understanding of science by the lay public is not progressing that well in the U.S., and this is something that knowledgeable people need to work to improve.

Quote: Thus the task is not so much to see what no one yet has seen, but to think what nobody yet has thought about that which everybody sees. --Schopenhauer