Editorial
Experiments in Fluids 33 (2002) 1 DOI 10.1007/s00348-002-0469-9
Dedicated volume in honour of Wolfgang Merzkirch, Founding Editor
1 It is indeed a pleasure to celebrate the retirement of Wolfgang Merzkirch as a Founding Editor of Experiments in Fluids with this dedicated volume. His longstanding and wide ranging contributions to the evolution of Experiments in Fluids, in concert with those of his colleague, Jim Whitelaw, the other Founding Editor, are well known to our community. We are grateful to Jim for providing an historical account of our journal on this occasion. It surely will be an enduring and interesting record for successive generations of researchers. In the January 2002 issue of Experiments of Fluids, we recognized Wolfgang Merzkirch’s leadership in his capacity as an Editor, in addition to his own research endeavours, involvement with the organization of conferences, and service on panels and committees. With this dedicated issue, we honour him with articles by researchers representing a broad spectrum of experimental fluid mechanics. These contributions, which include both experimental techniques and characterization of flow physics, are representative of the current and projected themes of our journal. An endeavour of this sort requires timely contributions from authors, and their willingness to optimize the quality of their articles by undertaking revisions in a punctual fashion. Central to this entire process is, of course, the involvement of our dedicated referees. The prompt and
effective responses of both referees and authors are much appreciated and, no doubt, are a reflection of their respect for Wolfgang. We would like to take this opportunity to express our appreciation to our colleagues at Springer-Verlag for their efforts, not only in relation to the dedicated issue, but also for the many aspects of effective journal advancement and coordination, led by Dr. Hubertus Riedesel and Mrs. Erdmuthe Raufelder, and production, directed by Ms. Dagmar Rossow. Their high professional standards and responsiveness will continue to enhance our journal. In addition, we are grateful to Mrs. JoAnn Casciano of Lehigh University for her continuing administrative efforts on behalf of our journal, including the timely coordination of the review processes for this dedicated volume. On this occasion of honouring Wolfgang Merzkirch, it is clear that, with the spirited efforts of all involved, we can look forward to the sustained excellence of Experiments in Fluids. Mory Gharib Don Rockwell Alex Taylor Cam Tropea