EARTH 520
Plate Tectonics and People

Harry F. Reid

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Harry F. Reid in Southeastern Alaska (Wright, 1933)

Biographical Information

Harry F. Reid was one of the first American geophysicist born on May 18, 1859 in Baltimore, MD and died 85 years later on June 18, 1944.  During his childhood, his family lived in Lausanne, Switzerland and this is where he attended school, followed by a bachelor’s degree (1880) and doctorate (1885) from John’s Hopkins University.  After his studies, he became a Professor at Case School of Applied Science in Cleveland and then one back at his alma mater, retiring in 1930.  He was a member and even president of various societies and was even elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 1912.  Overall, he was known as a charming, openhearted man whom was just a joy to be around (Lawson, 1951).

Specific contributions to plate tectonic theory

In 1906, the California State Governor, Governor Pardee, elected Reid to be a member of the California State Earthquake Investigation.  During this investigation, Reid collected data to further verify his Elastic Rebound Theory of Earthquakes (the same theory that exists today!).  This theory explains how pressure slowly builds up over time along a fault line and then an earthquake releases this pressure rapidly and causes the crust to shift.  In addition, one of his papers about "the starting point of earthquake vibrations was the first to point out that the instrumental epicenter as determined from P alone was the point above that at which the fault started to break, but that the first S recorded might well come from another portion of the fault"  (Lawson, 1951).

The same fence shown after, just before, and long before an earthquake. (USGS, 2012). 

“This picture, taken near Bolinas in Marin County by G.K. Gilbert, shows a fence that was offset about 8.5 feet along the trace of the fault (from Steinbrugge Collection of the UC Berkeley Earthquake Engineering Research Center” (USGS, 2012).

Other interesting scientific contributions

Prior to his obsession with earthquakes, Reid studied glaciers in Switzerland, Alaska, Washington, and Oregon.   He mapped various glaciers and was very interested in studying the advancement and retreating of glaciers along with accumulation and wastage (Grattan, 1994).  The following is a link to his journals that he wrote while exploring Glacier Bay: http://harryfieldingreid.blogspot.com/.  They are very interesting!!!

Reid Glacier in June of 1899, a glacier named after Reid in Glader Bay, Alaska.  (Univeristy Libraries, University of Washington, 2013)

Other cool stuff you should know

In 1915, the President of the United States requested for Harry Reid and the rest of The Committee of the National Academy of Science to report on the possibility of controlling the earthquake-induced landslides that were hampering the use of the Panama Canal (Preliminary Report, 1916).  The Preliminary Report by The Committee thoroughly discussed the amount of material that needed to be removed caused by the landslides, the areas in greatest danger for new landslides due to the softer rock material and at the deepest part of the canal, and how to reduce future landslides by preventing rain water from going underground (i.e. drainage pipes, vegetation) (Preliminary Report, 1916).  They did mention how earthquakes have been felt in this zone but that there was no evidence that the landslides were started by one.  The report also mentioned how two seismographs were installed to help monitor furture earthquakes (Preliminary Report, 1916).  In conclusion, they believed that "navigation through the Canal is not likely again to be seriously interupted...[and] will serve the great purpose for which it was constructed" (Preliminary Report, 1916).

A picture of the Panama Canal after the 1912 landslide. (Archer, 2011).

Another interesting fact is Reid was actually alive and studying around the same time as Wegener (see "the giants" link to the left for more information about him).  Here is a brief summary of who Wegener was:

"Alfred Lothar Wegener (November 1, 1880 – November 1930) was a German polar researcher, geophysicist and meteorologist.  During his lifetime he was primarily known for his achievements in meteorology and as a pioneer of polar research, but today he is most remembered for advancing the theory of continental drift (Kontinentalverschiebung) in 1912, which hypothesized that the continents were slowly drifting around the Earth. His hypothesis was controversial and not widely accepted until the 1950s, when numerous discoveries such as palaeomagnetism provided strong support for continental drift, and thereby a substantial basis for today's model of Plate tectonics[1][2]" (Wikipedia, 2013).

According to the book, Drifting Continents And Shifting Theories, Reid critically disagreed with Wegener's beliefs about drift by stating the following: " There have been many attempts to decuce the characteristics of the earth from a hypotheises; but they have all failed...This is another of the same type.  Science has developed by the painstaking comparison of observations and, through close induction, by taking one short step backward to their cause: not by first guessing at the cause and then deducing the phenomena" (Le Grand, 1988). 

But then on the other hand, they were very similar enough for the following book to be written about them:

The following is the books description from Amazon: 

"Alfred Lothar Wegener & Harry Fielding Reid had at least four characteristics in common. First, they were trained scientists: Wegener in astrology, Reid in physics. Second, they were interested in a different science: both liked glaciers and geology, and Wegener studied weather, and Reid in earthquakes and tsunamis. Third, each developed a new theory: Wegener thought of continental drift, and Reid elastic rebound. Fourth, they were not just scientists ? they were adventurers, Wegener went several times to Greenland (and died there), and Reid went to San Francisco, Puerto Rico and other places" (Amazon, 2013).

Bibliography

Amazon: Alfred Lothar Wegener & Harry Fielding Reid: Scientists & Adventurers.  Retrieved February 4, 2013 from http://www.amazon.com/Alfred-Lothar-Wegener-Harry-Fielding/dp/1479244848

Archer, Rick.  Creating the Canal 1.  2011. Retrieved January 29, 2013 from http://www.ssqq.com/travel/panamacanal2012x02.htm

Grattan, Joan.  Reid Papers: Special Collections, The Milton S. Eisenhower Library, The Johns Hopkins University.  1994. Retrieved February 4, 2013 from http://ead.library.jhu.edu/ms367.xml.

Lawson, Andrew C., & Byerly, Perry.  1951. Harry Fielding Reid 1859—1944. Biographical Memoirs - National Academy Of Science, VOL. XXVI.  Retrieved January 22, 2013 http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Fielding_Reid

Le Grand, HE. Drifting Continents and Shifting Theories. 1988.  Retrieved February 4, 2013 from http://books.google.com/books?id=2A34v-TF5YMC&pg=PA62&lpg=PA62&dq=reid+a....

Preliminary Report Upon the Possibility of Controlling the Landslides Adjacent to the Panama Canal.  Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America. 1916. Vol. 2 Number 4. Retrieved January 22, 2013 from http://books.google.com/books?id=OrgAAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA193&lpg=PA193&dq=reid+landslides+in+panama+1916&source=bl&ots=Dx8USnVFjM&sig=8j2CLAINisviS2-f9KWe7zshavY&hl=en&sa=X&ei=JYUAUeXTKsaA2wXl4YGADg&ved=0CEMQ6AEwAw#v=onepage&q=reid%20landslides%20in%20pan&f=false

University Libraries, University of Washington. Guide to the Souvenir of the Harriman Alaska Expedition Photograph Album Collection May-August 1899. Retrieved January 29, 2013 from http://digital.lib.washington.edu/findingaids/view?docId=HarrimanAlaskaPHColl333.xml

USGS. 2012. Reid’s Elastic Rebound Theory, Retrieved January 22, 2013 from http://earthquake.usgs.gov/regional/nca/1906/18april/reid.php

Wikipedia. Alfred Wegener. 2013. Retrieved February 4, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfred_Wegener

Wright, Charles Will.  1933.  USGS Photo of Harry Fielding Reid. Retrieved January 22, 2013 from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Harry_Fielding_Reid