Author: Krzysztof Petelczyc

In Poland, 2022 has been announced as the year of Mieczyslaw Wolfke by Polish Physical Society, Warsaw University of Technology, Photonics Society of Poland and the Committee of Physics of Polish Academy of Sciences. Mieczyslaw Wolfke (1883-1947) was a notable Polish physicist, inventor, and advocate of technical physics. In 1920 he published the first ever idea of two-step imaging which is today treated as a pioneering work in holography. In 1927 together with Willem Keesom in Leiden (NL) he discovered a new form of liquid helium, which later was turned out to be superfluid.

This year, we celebrate with many activities popularising the life, achievements, and scientific profile of Prof. Wolfke, aiming to inspire young people with his enthusiasm for science and technology. Our initiatives are based on six key values, the first letters of which form the word WOLFKE: wideness, openness, logic, functionality, knowledgeability, efficiency. On May 27, we will organize a Symposium
combined with the Wolfke Science Picnic on May 28-29. We will create a set of competitions for school students covering art, literature and physical experiments, and a special edition of the "CanSat" challenge under the patronage of ESA. We would like to offer innovative and pro-entrepreneurial workshops "From idea to invention" and complete sets of experimental materials as "do-it-yourself" physics lessons in schools. We will organise special technical research grants from the Centre for Advanced Materials of the Warsaw University of Technology.

Mieczysław Wolfke was a member of the Polish, German, French and Swiss Physical Societies. He was a friend of many European physicists, including Albert Einstein and Luis de Broglie. We invite all physicists in Europe to learn about the history and scientific achievements of Mieczysław Wolfke. We wrote a complete biography of this extraordinary individual - maybe someone is ready to publish an English translation on this occasion.

More info about the Year of Mieczyslaw Wolfke:

• Official website for the celebrations: https://wolfke.fizyka.pw.edu.pl/en
• Article about Wolfke for Photonic Letters of Poland: https://doi.org/10.4302/plp.v13i4.1107

Mieczysław Wolfke (image: National Digital Archives of Republic of Poland)