Oscillatory thermocapillary flow in liquid bridges of high Prandtl number fluid is studied. The effect of free surface heat transfer, especially heat gain, on the oscillation phenomenon is investigated experimentally and numerically. It is shown that the critical temperature difference (Delta T-cr) changes substantially when the free surface heat transfer changes from loss to gain in the case of nearly straight liquid bridges. In contrast, Delta T-cr is not affected by the free surface heat transfer with concave liquid bridges. The free surface heat transfer rate is computed numerically by simulating the interaction of the liquid and the surrounding air. The oscillatory flow is also investigated numerically by analyzing the liquid flow in three-dimensions for straight bridges. The computed results agree well with the experimental data. The simulation shows that the free surface heat gain enhances the surface flow and that the oscillatory flow is a result of interactions between the convection effect and buoyancy. The flow does not become oscillatory if there is no net heat gain at the free surface in the range of Marangoni number of the present work (<= 1.8 x 10(4)), so the present cause of oscillations is different from that in the free surface heat loss case we investigated in the past. (c) 2007 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.