James A. Van Allen
| James Van Allen | |
|---|---|
James Van Allen in 1977
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| Born | James Alfred Van Allen September 7, 1914 Mount Pleasant, Iowa |
| Died | August 9, 2006 (aged 91) Iowa City, Iowa |
| Residence | United States |
| Nationality | American |
| Fields | Astrophysics |
| Institutions | University of Iowa |
| Alma mater |
Iowa Wesleyan College (B.S.) (1935) University of Iowa (M.S.) (1936) University of Iowa (Ph.D) (1939) |
| Notable students | Nicholas M. Smith |
| Known for |
Van Allen radiation belts Magnetospheric physics |
| Influenced | James Hansen |
| Notable awards | Time magazine Man of the Year (1960) Elliott Cresson Medal (1961) William Bowie Medal (1977) National Medal of Science (1987) Crafoord Prize (1989) Vannevar Bush Award (1991) |
James Alfred Van Allen (September 7, 1914 – August 9, 2006) was an American space scientist at the University of Iowa. He was instrumental in establishing the field of magnetospheric research in space.
The Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following their discovery by his Geiger–Müller tube instruments on the 1958 satellites: (Explorer 1, Explorer 3, and Pioneer 3) during the International Geophysical Year. Van Allen led the scientific community for the inclusion of scientific research instruments on space satellites.
Van Allen was born on 7 September 1914 on a small farm near Mount Pleasant, Iowa, the second of four sons of Alfred Morris and Alma Olney Van Allen, a woman of Dutch ancestry (van Allen being Dutch for "from Allen/Aalden"). He grew up in the small town of Mount Pleasant, located forty-five miles due south of Iowa City. As a child he was fascinated by mechanical and electrical devices and was an avid reader of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines. He once horrified his mother by constructing a Tesla coil that produced foot-long sparks and caused his hair to stand on end. Van Allen was valedictorian of his high school class in 1931, and received his bachelor's degree in physics, summa cum laude, from Iowa Wesleyan College in 1935. While an undergraduate at Iowa Wesleyan, he assisted the senior scientist of the second Byrd Expedition (1934–35) to Antarctica in preparing seismic and magnetic experimental equipment. (In 2004, the American Polar Society commemorated his work by presenting Van Allen with its Honors of the Society award.) He earned his master's and doctorate from the University of Iowa in 1936 and 1939, respectively.
Van Allen credits C. A. Cottrell, a science instructor in his high school, with stimulating his initial interest in science. He developed parallel interests in wood and metal crafts and did well in other subjects, becoming valedictorian of his Mount Pleasant High School class upon his graduation in June 1931. His valedictorian address was: Pax Romana, Pax Americana.
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