José Reis (scientist)

As a result, he accepted an invitation to move to São Paulo in the next year and work at the Biological Institute, an applied research center set up by the state government, in the section of bacteriology.

He felt also the urge to write pamphlets and booklets in a simple language, in order to instruct the agriculturists of the state on how to prevent and fight this and other diseases, and soon started to contribute regularly to a specialized magazine in this field, "Chácaras & Quintais".

In 1947, Dr. José Reis, who now displayed a marvelous talent for explaining scientific concepts for laypeople, started a parallel career as a journalist, first by writing a science column at one of the town's two most important newspapers, the Folha de S.Paulo.

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 .

[2] His name is honoured also in the Núcleo José Reis de Divulgação Científica, a research and education centre at the School of Communication and Arts of the University of São Paulo.

His latest work, Ética e Divulgação Científica: Os Desafios do Novo Século (Ethic and Cientific Divulgation: The Challenges of the New Century), fifth in the Science Popularization Series, was published in the same year.

1956: Participates as relator on science teaching themes at the annual meeting of the Brazilian Education Association (Associação Brasileira de Educação), in Salvador, Bahia.

1962: Assumes the post of Editing Director of Folha de S.Paulo newspaper, "responsible for the orientation and writing of editorials, without compromising the science popularization work" (1962–67).

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.

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.

"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)