In 1973 Heinz Wolff was the specialist judge for my school’s team in the first heat of the BBC Young Scientists of the Year competition. Two years previously a consultant at Guy’s hospital in London had asked our school if we could assist children with cerebral palsy; they wore out their shoes very quickly due to the manner in which they walked. We researched materials and eventually produced an automated machine that manufactured hard-wearing polypropylene toecaps to fit over their shoes.
The project fitted with Heinz’s enthusiasms, and he took considerable interest in us and in our hopes and aspirations for the future. Despite his considerable intellect, he was very down to earth and approachable; in fact, off-screen he was exactly the same as on it.
We went on to the final with different judges, and though we did not win Heinz wrote to us afterwards, offering his commiserations and inviting us to spend a day with him when we had completed our A-level exams a few weeks later. We eagerly accepted and he shared his research with us. A microwave oven, invented elsewhere but being assessed by his team, amazed us by boiling a cup of water in 30 seconds.
Heinz brought science to the people and never lost his sense of wonder in all things around him. He was a warm, compassionate man who was tremendous fun to be with.
