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Heinz Wolff, Great Egg Race presenter and scientist, dies | Heinz Wolff, Great Egg Race presenter and scientist, dies |
(35 minutes later) | |
Renowned scientist and TV presenter Heinz Wolff has died, aged 89. | Renowned scientist and TV presenter Heinz Wolff has died, aged 89. |
The German-born inventor and professor, famed for hosting BBC Two's long-running science show The Great Egg Race, died of heart failure on 15 December, his family said. | |
A former advisor to the European Space Agency, he later moved to London's Brunel University to work on projects linked to the ageing population. | A former advisor to the European Space Agency, he later moved to London's Brunel University to work on projects linked to the ageing population. |
Brunel colleagues described him as an "inventive and inspirational leader". | Brunel colleagues described him as an "inventive and inspirational leader". |
Close friend Professor Ian Sutherland praised Wolffe - who became an emeritus professor at Brunel - for his creativity. | |
"There was nothing he loved more than having a team of people around him devising completely new ways of doing things," he said. | |
Trademark bow tie | |
A Jewish refugee, Wolff moved to the UK from Berlin aged 11 on the day World War Two broke out in September 1939. | A Jewish refugee, Wolff moved to the UK from Berlin aged 11 on the day World War Two broke out in September 1939. |
After attending school in Oxford, he worked in haematology at the city's Radcliffe Infirmary, where he invented a machine for counting patients' blood cells. | |
He later went on to graduate from University College London with a first-class honours degree in physiology and physics. | |
Wolff moved into television in 1966, first appearing on the BBC's Panorama programme with Richard Dimbleby, where he produced a pill that could measure, pressure, temperature and acidity. | |
However, he was best known for hosting BBC Two's The Great Egg Race from 1977 until 1986 - instantly recognisable for his trademark bow tie and eccentric hairstyle. | However, he was best known for hosting BBC Two's The Great Egg Race from 1977 until 1986 - instantly recognisable for his trademark bow tie and eccentric hairstyle. |
The show challenged contestants to invent useful objects out of limited resources. | The show challenged contestants to invent useful objects out of limited resources. |