Osborne Reynolds (
23 August 1842-
21 February 1912) is the namefather of the
Reynolds number which is the ratio of inertial forces to the viscous forces. He was born in
Belfast,
Ireland and died in
Watchet in
Somerset,
England. Reynolds graduated from
Cambridge University in
1867 after studying
mathematics. In
1868 he became a professor of
engineering in
Manchester, and was only the second to hold this role in England.
