George Batchelor and the founding of Euromech

Abstract

This article shows how George Batchelor, in close collaboration with Dietrich Küchemann, succeeded in founding Euromech, the European Mechanics Committee, in the sixties during the rise of the 'Cold War'. It is argued that the initial success of Euromech was due to the organisation of Euromech Colloquia, i.e. meetings of at most 50 scientists, focussing on a sufficiently specialised topic and leaving ample time for informal discussions. The maturation of Euromech into the European Mechanics Society in the nineties is then analysed. This transition was in part made necessary by the creation of five series of large European Conferences in Fluid and Solid Mechanics, Turbulence, Nonlinear Oscillations and Mechanics of Materials. The collective action of George Batchelor and a few outstanding European scientists is brought to light.