Search

Jim Vincent was truly a modern-day Renaissance man. An accomplished jazz and classical pianist and composer, who performed with some of Europe's top improvisers, making appearances at major jazz festivals and in BBC broadcast concerts. However, his legacy lies elsewhere. He graduated in physics at the University of Durham with first-class honours in 1962, proceeding to a PhD in 1966. After jobs in academia and industry, in 1979 he became Head of Physics at the Institute of Occupational Medicine (IOM) in Edinburgh. He took over a research team that had been working on sampling of dusts for studies of the risks of lung disease in coal miners and other workers. Jim’s team defined the sampling criteria for the aerosol that can be inhaled into the nose or mouth, in collaboration with other European scientists and, in 1986, published the description and experimental characterisation of the IOM Inhalable Dust sampler. This sampler has been recommended for measuring dust exposure in workplaces around the world. Its design, which the IOM patented, has remained essentially unchanged for almost 40 years. Jim’s academic and professional achievements spanned an enormous breadth, but his legacy is his contribution to the way we sample hazardous aerosols.