The occasion of Professor Fritz Ursell's retirement was marked by a two-day meeting consisting of invited talks by some of the most distinguished researchers in the various topics of fluid mechanics and asymptotics studied by Professor Ursell throughout his long and distinguished career. The papers collected here therefore outline the development of these topics from asymptotic methods in anisotropic wave systems, surface wave theory, biological models and differential equations, through to slender body theory, water wave theory and propeller-generated wakes. These edited papers will be valuable reading for all those interested in water waves and asymptotic techniques.