Heinz Wolff | |
|---|---|
 Professor Heinz Wolff in 2010 | |
| Born | Heinz Siegfried Wolff (1928-04-29)29 April 1928 |
| Died | 15 December 2017(2017-12-15) (aged 89) London, United Kingdom |
| Citizenship | British |
| Alma mater | University College London |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Bioengineering |
| Institutions | Brunel University |
Heinz Siegfried Wolff,FIEE, FRSA (29 April 1928 – 15 December 2017) was a German-born British scientist as well as a television and radio presenter. He was best known for theBBC television seriesThe Great Egg Race.[1][2][3]
Wolff was born inBerlin. His father, Oswald Wolff, was a volunteer inWorld War I[4] and a publisher specializing in German history.[5] His mother, Margot Wolff (née Saalfeld) died "of an acute heart infection" in 1938.[4][5][6] Father and son fled to the Netherlands in August 1939, and then arrived asJewish refugees in Britain on 3 September 1939,[4] on the same day thatWorld War II was declared by Britain and France; Wolff was 11.[7] He was educated at theCity of Oxford High School for Boys.[8]
Wolff worked inhaematology at theRadcliffe Infirmary inOxford underRobert Gwyn Macfarlane,[8] where he invented a machine for counting patients' blood cells, before joining thePneumoconiosis Research Unit atLlandough Hospital nearCardiff.[1][9] He went on toUniversity College London (UCL), where he gained afirst class honours degree inphysiology andphysics. Before going to UCL, he had been considered byTrinity College, Cambridge, but was rejected twice because his understanding ofLatin was too weak.[10]
He spent much of his early career inbioengineering, a term he coined in 1954[11] to take account of recent advances in physiology. He became an honorary member of theEuropean Space Agency in 1975, and in 1983 he founded theBrunel Institute for Bioengineering, which was involved in biological research duringweightless spaceflight.
Following retirement, he wasemeritus professor of bioengineering at Brunel University, working on a project aimed at addressing the care needs of older people.[7] Wolff was the scientific director and co-founder ofProject Juno, the private British-Soviet joint venture which sentHelen Sharman to theMir space station.[7]
He is credited with the invention of the gel padelectrodes used inECGs.[12]
A familiar face in the 1970s and early 1980s, well known to British television audiences with his memorablebow tie and pronounced German accent, his best remembered programme isThe Great Egg Race.[7] He was also the presenter ofGreat Experiments, and presenter/judge of the annualYoung Scientists of the Year series.[1] In 1985 he was a contestant onThe Adventure Game.
Working with Heinz was like being at the centre of an ideas factory; he was fiercely curious and always had new avenues to explore.[1]
— Gabriella Spinelli quoted by Joe Buchanunn,Brunel University,London
In 1989, he appeared onAfter Dark with, among others, astronautBuzz Aldrin.[13]
In 1998, he was one of the first people to be interviewed byAli G, during that character's initial appearances onThe 11 O'Clock Show, where the discussion ranged from elementary particles to penis enlargement.[14][15]
In 2007, Wolff made a guest appearance on Channel 4'sComedy Lab episode "Karl Pilkington: Satisfied Fool", where he is seen explaining to Pilkington the sudden rise of intelligence inHomo sapiens.[16]
In March 2009, he appeared in the puzzle video gameProfessor Heinz Wolff's Gravity.[17]
For many years Professor Wolff was the President ofHampstead Scientific Society.
In 1975, he delivered theRoyal Institution Christmas Lectures onSignals from the Interior.[18] In 2005 he presented theHigginson Lecture atDurham University.[19]
In 1953, he married Joan Stephenson, a staff nurse originally fromCardiff, whom he met at work.[1] They lived in north London. Widowed in October 2014, he died from heart failure on 15 December 2017. He is survived by his two sons,[1][7] Anthony[20] and Laurence.[21]
Prof. Heinz Wolff, Emeritus Professor, Institute for Bioengineering, Brunel University, 83
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