Joseph L. Reid (February 7, 1923 – April 2, 2015) was an American oceanographer. He was professor emeritus of

physical oceanography Physical oceanography is the study of physical conditions and physical processes within the ocean, especially the motions and physical properties of ocean waters. Physical oceanography is one of several sub-domains into which oceanography is div ...

at the

Scripps Institution of Oceanography Scripps Institution of Oceanography (SIO) is the center for oceanography and Earth science at the University of California, San Diego. Its main campus is located in La Jolla, with additional facilities in Point Loma. Founded in 1903 and incorpo ...

La Jolla, California La Jolla ( , ) is a hilly, seaside neighborhood in San Diego, California, occupying of curving coastline along the Pacific Ocean. The population reported in the 2010 census was 46,781. The climate is mild, with an average daily temperature o ...

Early life

Joseph Reid was born in Franklin, Texas, on February 7, 1923. He served in the United States Navy during World War II aboard the USS ''Stockdale''. Following the war, he became interested in studying the oceans and received his

bachelor's A bachelor's degree (from Medieval Latin ''baccalaureus'') or baccalaureate (from Modern Latin ''baccalaureatus'') is an undergraduate degree awarded by colleges and universities upon completion of a course of study lasting three to six years ( ...

in mathematics from the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas, United States. Founded in 1883, it is the flagship institution of the University of Texas System. With 53,082 students as of fall 2 ...

in 1942. Reid joined the

in 1948 and completed his

Master's A master's degree (from Latin ) is a postgraduate academic degree awarded by universities or colleges upon completion of a course of study demonstrating mastery or a high-order overview of a specific field of study or area of professional prac ...

in 1950.

Research career

While a student at Scripps in 1949, Reid participated in one of the first CalCOFI cruises and continued to describe his field of interest as the

California Current The California Current () is a cold water Pacific Ocean ocean current, current that moves southward along the western coast of North America, beginning off southern British Columbia and ending off southern Baja California Sur. It is considered an ...

for the rest of his career. He justified his research in other basins or environments as "tributaries" of the California Current system, as the boundaries of the original CalCOFI survey were not enough to describe all of the influences on it. Reid's breakthrough as a researcher and scientific coordinator arose in 1955 for the NORPAC expedition. Reid organized 19 research vessels to take measurements across the Pacific which informed scientists of large-scale spatial distributions and helped better understand the California Current. Reid had a very limited amount of classified work associated with the Office of Naval Research or the U.S. Navy as an oceanographer. In 1955 he participated in the Wigwam test, taking temperature and salinity measurements following detonation. In the late 1960s, Reid joined the initial panel of GEOSECS led by Arnold E. Bainbridge. The GEOSECS program outlined a number of research cruises focusing on chemical oceanography and tracers.

Scientific philosophy

Reid described his research as observation-driven, emphasizing the value of observations and shortcomings of models and ocean theory in the 20th century.

Early life

Research career

Scientific philosophy

References

Further reading