Variational Navier-Stokes: where to find study material "for dummies"? I have worked with the Navier Stokes equations before but I'm a physicist. I was talking to a mathematician and they use a complete different notation and I am very lost.
First of all, I use the Control Volume method for discretization and they use Finite Element. 
Second, they talk about variational forms and H and Q spaces \Omega domains, which I have seen for the first time. 
Can anybody point my way to a document, or book, or small chapter where I can understand the mathematical variational point of view of the Navier Stokes equation as simple as possible? (I'm interested in the incompressible stationary case for a fluid, so, very simple.)
 A: I found two books which look interesting but still feel it is not "for dummies" enough.


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*The Finite Element Method: Theory, Implementation, and Applications,
Texts in Computational Science and Engineering, by M. G. Larson and
F. Bengzon

*A Mathematical Introduction to Fluid Mechanics by Chorin and Marsden
But still if someone has a better suggestion for a variational Navier Stokes derivation that is not so mathematical for a physicist to understand, please let me know.
A: I'm a physics undergrad student. I've been to self-studying continuum mechanics, and as a part of that reading some fluid dynamics stuff. At first I faced similar difficulties. Kip S Thorne's Modern Classical Physics helped me to grasp the physical intuition behind most of the concepts. Then I was motivated to study the variational formulation of fluid. It uses physicist's familiar language. 


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*Badin, Gualtiero, Crisciani, Fulvio; Variational Formulation of Fluid and Geophysical Fluid Dynamics: Mechanics, Symmetries and Conservation
Laws

