W F Vinen - a celebration

Abstract

On 29 May 1998, a group of present and past colleagues of Professor William Frank Vinen FRS, known to everyone as Joe, met in Birmingham University for a one-day meeting to mark his retirement from the Poynting Chair in the School of Physics and Astronomy. Although retired in a formal sense, as an Emeritus Professor, Joe continues his research on superfluid turbulence as actively as ever in a number of collaborations worldwide. A collection of papers presented by colleagues with whom he worked especially closely are presented in this Special Issue. They reflect the wide range of his achievements in fields as diverse as superfluid helium, superconductivity, quantum hydrodynamics, turbulence, light scattering and, most recently, the two-dimensional plasma and Wigner crystal formed by ions trapped just below the surface of superfluid helium.In addition to international recognition as one of the foremost physicists of his generation, Joe Vinen has had a major national influence on physics education at a number of levels. He has spent many years on behalf of the Royal Society and Institute of Physics addressing central issues of science and mathematics education and was largely responsible for the introduction of the four-year physics degree, which is now the norm for a professional physicist. Joe will also be remembered for many other services to the physics community including his chairmanship of the Physics Panel for the last Research Assessment Exercise. Joe's reputation for selfless hard work and his adherence to the highest possible standards in every aspect of his professional and public life have been legendary.Joe Vinen was born in 1930, the son of a physics schoolmaster, which may have had something to do with his lifelong dedication to both physics and education. From Watford Grammar School he obtained an Exhibition to Clare College, Cambridge, though entry was delayed until 1950 by National Service spent with the RAF at the Headquarters of Flying