His family encouraged education and achievement. His sister became a medical doctor and both his brothers became lawyers. A high school science teacher encouraged Reines toward science by giving him unlimited access to the school labs. His high year book noted his ambition as "to be a physicist extraordinaire". He also developed a love of vocal music that he kept near him throughout his life.
After graduating Union Hill High School, Reines was accepted at Stevens Institute of Technology in Hoboken, New Jersey. He received a B.S. in physics in 1939 and an M.S. in mathematical physics in 1941. He married Sylvia Samuels in 1941. He was accepted at New York University and received a Ph.D. in 1944.
Reines was encouraged by Richard Feynman to become part of the Manhattan Project at Los Alamos. He remained there for 15 years researching the effects of nuclear blasts. In 1951 while on leave from Los Alamos, Reines and co-worker Clyde Cowan began a research project to observe the existence of the neutrino.
They named it, Project Poltergeist. They began their work at the Hanford nuclear reactor, and then moved the project to Savannah River Plant reactor where more powerful equipment was available. They made their dramatic discovery in 1956.
In 1959, Reines was named Professor and Head of the Department of Physics at Case Institute of Technology (now Case Western) in Cleveland, Ohio. He continued his work with reactor neutrinos and completed an ambitious project on cosmic neutrinos. His work included the development of large scale liquid scintillators and water Cerenkov detectors.
In 1966, Reines became the founding Dean of the School of Physical Sciences at the University of California at Irvine. He stepped down as dean 12 years later to spend more time with his research. He is widely credited with building the outstanding reputation in physics that UCI enjoys today.
Among the "firsts" that belong to Reines are:
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