REID, HARRY FIELDING

born May 18, 1859, Baltimore died June 18, 1944, Baltimore U.S. seismologist and glaciologist who in 1911 developed the elastic rebound theory of earthquake mechanics, still accepted today. Reid was professor of dynamic geology at Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, from 1896 until he became emeritus professor in 1930. His early career was mainly concerned with the study of the structure, composition, and movement of glaciers. Later he became involved in the study of earthquakes and earthquake-recording devices. He was first to develop a formula that showed that earthquakes were a result of faulting and not the reverse. He wrote an analysis of the San Francisco earthquake as part of the report of the California State Earthquake Investigation Commission report, Mechanics of the Earthquake.