Rheologica Acta

Rheol. Acta 22, 325 (1983)

OBITUARY

Erik Forslind

(1907-1983) Professor Erik Forslind died in Stockholm on February 11, 1983 after a long illness. Born in Järvsö, Hälsingland, he attended the high school in Uppsala and obtained bis degree in civil engineering at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm in 1930. During the thirties, he held various positions in the civil engineering industry. During this period he began to interest himself in the physical mechanisms governing the strength and flow of concrete. This interest eventually led to his appointment as head of the Physics Department of the Swedish Cement and Concrete Research Institute in Stockholm. In this position, Forslind had the opportunity to devote himself to fundamental aspects of the strength and flow ofconcrete and in particular to the role ofwater in this context. During this period he also studied quantum mechanics and theoretical physics (1946-7) at the University of Stockholm untier Oscar Klein. Forslind's work on the behaviour of water resulted in 1952 in his '°Theory of water", based partly on an unconventional approach using quantum mechänics and lattice dynamics. In 1954 Forslind defended his thesis on the lattice dynamics of ice, which stimulated numerous researchers to work in this area. He then moved to become a lecturer ("docent") with Professor Ole Lamm at the Department of Physical Chemistry at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, where he later was appointed professor. During his time at the Royal Institute, NMRspectroscopy became his dominating interest. Forslind installed one of the very first NMR-devices in 904

Scandinavia and at an early stage realised the potentials of this technique as a method for studying molecular mobility and related phenomena. Also during this period, the interaction of water with inorganic solids and biologically important organic materials, such as collagen, remained one of the major topics on his program, not least with regard to the rheological behaviour of such systems. Forslind is the author and co-author of numerous articles and reports, ranging in subject from strength aspects of concrete structures to quantum mechanics of hydrogen bonded systems such as clays and collagen. In all his work a central common theme is the rheological properties of the systems studie& He took the initiative in the foundation of the Swedish Rheological Society in 1956, where he served for many years as chairman. In 1976, he was one o f the organizers of the VIIth International Congress on Rheology in Gothenburg. Forslind was a member of numerous scientific and technical bodies as well as being elected as a member of the Royal Academy of Engineering Sciences in Stockholm. He also served on the Board of Editors ofthis journal for many years. After retiring from his position as Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Royal Institute of Technology in Stockholm, Forslind remained scientifically active until an incurable illness put an end to his somewhat unusual but - not least because of its broad scope - highty impressive career. Josef Kubät (Gothenburg)