The problem of the emergence of turbulence is one of the unsolved problems of physics and technology of the 20th century. It is noted that in order to understand the emergence of turbulence in a viscous heat-conducting gas, it is necessary to take into account the compressibility of the medium. A definition of turbulence in a viscous heat-conducting gas is given, which is a cyclically repeating process of the emergence and decay of coherent vortex structures described by a vector wave equation. The decay of vortex structures is accompanied by an explosive, asymptotic increase in pressure pulsations, which triggers a new cycle of turbulence generation. The emergence and decay of coherent vortex structures in the boundary layer on a plate and in a round jet is considered.