As a producer for BBC TV, I involved Heinz Wolff in a number of programmes in the late 1960s. As a judge on Young Scientists of the Year he was perfect at putting contestants at ease, since he often had the exuberance and humour of a child himself. He named one of his research projects, designing new types of mobility aids for the elderly, as Unexciting Research for Necessary Equipment, or URINE.
When I drove to his house one day, my car made a noise like a machine gun, as if it was going to blow up. Heinz, adept at solving any technical problem, smiled calmly and asked to be taken to the car. A spark plug had fallen out, which he probably knew as soon as I described the symptoms: he replaced it and all was well. My last memory of him was at his 80th birthday party, where he rode around on a motorbike with fireworks going off around him.