- Fred Spiess
Dr. Fred Noel Spiess (December 25, 1919 – September 8, 2006) was an oceanographer and marine explorer who helped create the FLIP floating laboratory.
Spiess (pronounced SPEES) was born in
Oakland, California . He received an undergraduate degree from theUniversity of California, Berkeley and a master's degree fromHarvard University . He received his doctorate inphysics from UC Berkeley in 1951.Spiess joined the Marine Physical Laboratory at the
Scripps Institution of Oceanography in 1952 and served as director of the laboratory from 1958 to 1980. He served as director of the Scripps Institution from 1964 to 1965.R/P FLIP
In the early 1960s, Spiess helped develop
R/P FLIP (FLoating Instrument Platform), a floating laboratory.R/P FLIP is a 355-foot manned research vessel and floating instrument platform. FLIP is towed out to sea and one end is submerged. Most of its hull is under water, but the crew and instruments are housed in a 55-foot-long tip that remains above the surface of theocean .FLIP has been used to study the acoustics of
whales and other marine mammals, heat exchange between the ocean and the atmosphere, and the effects of seismic waves on water.Spiess collaborated with Fred Fisher and Phillip Rudnick in development of the vessel.
Death
Spiess died in
San Diego, California , ofcancer .References
* Pearce, Jeremy. (2006, September 25). "Fred N. Spiess, 86; Helped Design Marine Station". The New York Times, p. A27
* [http://scrippsnews.ucsd.edu/article_detail.cfm?article_num=747 Obituary notice, Scripps Institution of Oceanography News]
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