James Van Allen (1914 - 2006) was a pathbreaking astrophysicist best known for his work in the development of research satellite technology and the discovery of the bands of radiation that circle the Earth. Born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa, he graduated from Iowa Wesleyan College and received his Ph.D. in nuclear physics from the University of Iowa in 1939. He began his professional career with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington. After U.S. entry into World War II, he joined the Applied Physics Laboratory of Johns Hopkins University where...