Editing Frederick Reines (section)

== Early life ==
Frederick Reines was born in [[Paterson, New Jersey]], one of four children of Gussie (Cohen) and Israel Reines. His parents were Jewish emigrants from the same town in Russia, but only met in [[New York City]], where they were later married. He had an older sister, Paula, who became a doctor, and two older brothers, David and William, who became lawyers. He said that his "early education was strongly influenced" by his studious siblings. He was the great-nephew of the [[Rabbi]] [[Yitzchak Yaacov Reines]], the founder of [[Mizrachi (religious Zionism)|Mizrachi]], a [[religious Zionist movement]].<ref name="NAS">{{cite book |last1=Kropp |first1=William |last2=Schultz |first2=Jonas |last3=Sobel |first3=Henry |title=Frederick Reines 1918-1998 A Biographical Memoir |place=Washington D.C. |publisher=[[National Academy of Sciences]] |year=2009 |url=http://www.nasonline.org/publications/biographical-memoirs/memoir-pdfs/reines-frederick.pdf |access-date=March 17, 2010}}</ref>

The family moved to [[Hillburn, New York]], where his father ran the [[general store]], and he spent much of his childhood. He was an [[Eagle Scout (Boy Scouts of America)|Eagle Scout]]. Looking back, Reines said: "My early childhood memories center around this typical American country store and life in a small American town, including [[Independence Day (United States)|Independence Day July]] celebrations marked by fireworks and patriotic music played from a pavilion bandstand."<ref name=Autobiography>{{cite web |title=The Nobel Prize in Physics 1995 |publisher=Nobel Foundation |url=https://www.nobelprize.org/nobel_prizes/physics/laureates/1995/reines-bio.html |access-date=March 23, 2012}}</ref>

Reines sang in a chorus, and as a soloist. For a time he considered the possibility of a singing career, and was instructed by a vocal coach from the [[Metropolitan Opera]] who provided lessons for free because the family did not have the money for them.<ref name=Autobiography/> The family later moved to [[North Bergen, New Jersey]], residing on [[County Route 501 (New Jersey)|Kennedy Boulevard]] and 57th Street. Because North Bergen did not have a high school,<ref name=UCReporter>{{cite news |last=Pope |first=Gennarose |title=Bridge of troubled Kennedy Boulevard |newspaper=[[The Union City Reporter]] |page=12 |date=March 25, 2012}}</ref> he attended [[Union Hill High School]] in [[Union Hill, New Jersey]] (today [[Union City, New Jersey]]),<ref name=Autobiography/><ref name=UCReporter/> from which he graduated in 1935.<ref name=UCReporter/>

From an early age, Reines exhibited an interest in science, and liked creating and building things. He later recalled that:

<blockquote>The first stirrings of interest in science that I remember occurred during a moment of boredom at religious school, when, looking out of the window at twilight through a hand curled to [[simulate]] a [[telescope]], I noticed something peculiar about the light; it was the phenomenon of [[diffraction]]. That began for me a fascination with light.<ref name=Autobiography/></blockquote>

Ironically, Reines excelled in literary and history courses, but received average or low marks in science and math in his [[freshman]] year of high school, though he improved in those areas by his [[Junior (education year)|junior]] and [[senior (education)|senior]] years through the encouragement of a teacher who gave him a key to the school laboratory. This cultivated a love of science by his senior year. In response to a question seniors were asked about what they wanted to do for a yearbook quote, he responded: "To be a physicist extraordinaire."<ref name=Autobiography/>

Reines was accepted into the [[Massachusetts Institute of Technology]], but chose instead to attend [[Stevens Institute of Technology]] in [[Hoboken, New Jersey]], where he earned his [[Bachelor of Science]] (B.S.) degree in [[mechanical engineering]] in 1939, and his [[Master of Science]] (M.S.) degree in mathematical physics in 1941, writing a thesis on "A Critical Review of Optical Diffraction Theory".<ref name = "NAS"/> He married Sylvia Samuels on August 30, 1940.<ref name = "NAS"/> They had two children, Robert and Alisa.<ref name=Autobiography/> He then entered [[New York University]], where he earned his [[Doctor of Philosophy]] (Ph.D.) in 1944. He studied [[cosmic rays]] there under [[Serge A. Korff]],<ref name=Autobiography/> but wrote his [[thesis]] under the supervision of Richard D. Present<ref name = "NAS"/> on "Nuclear fission and the liquid drop model of the nucleus".<ref>{{cite web |title=Nuclear fission and the liquid drop model of the nucleus |publisher=[[New York University]] |url=http://bobcat.library.nyu.edu/primo_library/libweb/action/display.do?ct=display&fn=search&doc=nyu_aleph001271114&indx=2&recIds=nyu_aleph001271114&recIdxs=1&elementId=1&displayMode=full&frbrVersion=&tabs=detailsTab&dscnt=0&vl%28462370296UI1%29=all_items&vl%28210150594UI0%29=any&onCampus=false&scp.scps=scope%3A%28NS%29%2Cscope%3A%28CU%29%2Cscope%3A%28BHS%29%2Cscope%3A%28NYU%29%2Cscope%3A%28NYSID%29%2Cscope%3A%28%22NYHS%22%29%2Cscope%3A%28GEN%29%2Cscope%3A%28NYUAD%29%2Cscope%3A%28NYUSH%29&tab=all&dstmp=1424204858961&dym=true&lang=eng&indx=1&vl%281UIStartWith0%29=contains&vl%28freeText0%29=Reines%201944&fn=search&vid=NYU&institution=NYU |access-date=February 18, 2015 }}{{Dead link|date=April 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> Publication of the thesis was delayed until after the end of [[World War II]]; it appeared in [[Physical Review]] in 1946.<ref name = "NAS"/><ref>{{cite journal |last1=Present |first1=R. D. |last2=Reines |first2=F. |last3=Knipp |first3=J. K.|title=The Liquid Drop Model for Nuclear Fission |journal=[[Physical Review]] |volume=70 |issue=7–8 |pages=557–558 |date=October 1946 |doi=10.1103/PhysRev.70.557.2|pmid=18880816 |bibcode = 1946PhRv...70..557P |hdl=2027/mdp.39015086430553 |hdl-access=free }}</ref>