José Reis

José Reis (June 12, 1907 – May 16, 2002) was a Brazilian scientist, journalist, scientific leader and science writer.

Reis was born in Rio de Janeiro, the eleventh of thirteen children. He attended secondary school at Colégio D. Pedro II, and, on leaving school in 1924, was awarded the "Pantheon" prize, conferred on the best students of Colégio D. Pedro II. He went on to study medicine at the University of Brazil's National Faculty of Medicine (presently Federal University of Rio de Janeiro) from 1925.

As a scientific leader, Reis was exceedingly important for the history of Brazilian science and technology, as one of the founders of the Brazilian Society for the Advancement of Science (SBPC), in 1949, together with other important scientific personalities of the country, such as Jorge Americano, Paulo Sawaya, Maurício Rocha e Silva, Gastão Rosenfeld, Wilson Teixeira Beraldo, José Ribeiro do Vale and others . He was also the founder and the editor-in-chief for almost his entire life of "Ciência e Cultura", SBPC's official journal.

Reis received many national and international prizes, awards and honours, such as the Jonh R. Reitermeyer Award, granted by the Inter-American Press Society and the Panamerican Press Union in 1964; and the prestigious Kalinga Prize for the Popularization of Science by UNESCO (United Nations Organization for Education, Science and Culture).

1986: Ends his activities at Ciência e Cultura magazine, for which he was responsible from 1949 to 1954 and from 1972 to 1985.

1992: The José Reis Center for the Popularization of Science (JRC) of the School of Communications and Arts at the University of São Paulo is founded.

1997: A committee headed by Prof.. Dr. Crodowaldo Pavan, composed of members of the JRC, School of Communications and Arts, FAPESP and CNPq, celebrates on the 12th of June the ninetieth anniversary of José Reis.

1998: On the 8th of July the first book of the Science Popularization Series, A Espiral em Busca do Infinito (The Spiral Toward Infinity) is released, honoring José Reis. It was created by the JRC team, under the supervision of Glória Kreinz and Crodowaldo Pavan.

1999: José Reis continues to act as a journalist at Folha de S.Paulo, with his column Periscópio (Periscope), Idealistas Isolados (Isolated Idealists), the second book of the Science Popularization Series was published.

2000: A text by José Reis, titled Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa (Research Fostering Foundation), was published in the book Os Donos da Paisagem (The Landscape Owners), third in the Science Popularization Series was published.

2001: José Reis is elected honorary president of the recently founded Brazilian Association of Science Popularization, ABRADIC, and José Reis: Jornalista, Cientista e Divulgador Científico (José Reis: Journalist, Cientist and Cientific Divugator), fourth in the Science Popularization Series was published.

After death:

2003: Divulgação Científica: Refexões (Cientific Divulgation: Refexions), sixth in the Science Popularization Series was published.

2004: Congresso Internacional de Divulgação Científica (International Congress of Science Divulgation), seventh in the Science Popularization Series was published.

2005: José Reis: Ciência, Poesia e Outros Caminhos (José Reis: Science, Poetry and Others), eighth in the Science Popularization Series was published.

2006: Círculos Crescentes (Crescent Circles), ninth in the Science Popularization Series was published.

Quote "Science is beautiful and deeply esthetic; therefore we should exhibit it to society" (A ciência é bonita e profundamente estética; portanto, devemos exibi-la à sociedade)