Carl O. Bowin

The Woods Hole Oceanographic Institution announces with great sorrow the death of Scientist Emeritus  of Falmouth on March 30.  He was 92.

Carl was born in Los Angeles, CA, to Richard and Muriel (Levin) Bowin. After an inquisitive childhood searching for explanations to his observations of the natural world, he spent significant time as a teen at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles and became fascinated with science. He graduated from Franklin High School in Los Angeles, and he received a Bachelor of Science in geology from the California Institute of Technology. Subsequently, he received a Master’s Degree from Northwestern University and a PhD from Princeton University. His PhD thesis focused on mapping the geology of the Dominican Republic.

After meeting his beloved wife while in Los Angeles, they married in Chicago, Illinois. While working on his PhD, they resided in Princeton and the Dominican Republic and eventually moved to Falmouth in July of 1961, where Carl took a job at WHOI.

Carl began his career at WHOI in 1961 in the Department of Geology and Geophysics, where he measured and mapped the gravity anomaly field of the Earth. Through gravity, he developed a model of the Earth’s inner structure. His early research and gravity measuring required computer systems to process the data. He is regarded as the first person to have placed a computer system on a ship; the US Navy later turned to him for guidance in doing the same. Science was Carl’s passion; it took him around the world. He continued to work on his research throughout his life. In 1995, he became a Scientist Emeritus.

He was also an avid photographer, spending countless hours in his darkroom perfecting his black & white photography techniques before moving on to color processing. He participated in the Upper Cape Camera Club and several local photography shows.

He is survived by his wife of 69 years, Jean V. (Entwistle) Bowin, and their four children, Claire J. Bowin (Gare Cline), Adria L. Bodell (Stephen Bodell), Bret R. Bowin (Karen Humphreys), and Dara L. Bowin. He also leaves five grandchildren and one great-granddaughter.

A celebration of life is being planned for this summer. The family requests that any donations in Carl’s memory be made to Bridges Associates (a non-profit organization supporting adults with learning challenges) PO Box 524, Yarmouthport, MA 02675. Bridgesassociates.com.

Information for this obituary is from the Falmouth Enterprise