"Van Allen Radiation Belt" James Van Allen Hand Signed FDC Todd Mueller COA

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"Van Allen Radiation Belt" James Van Allen Hand Signed First Day Cover. This item is certified authentic by Todd Mueller Autographs and comes with their Certificate of Authenticity.
ES - 8220
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 for him, following his discovery using
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 in putting 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, 45 miles 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 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
. With a strong interest in things nautical (which he retained throughout his life), he took the entrance examinations for entry into the
U.S. Naval Academy
while in high school. With outstanding grades, and with the backing of his local Congressman,
William F. Kopp
, he applied for admission. All went well initially, but when he appeared for his physical examination, he was rejected for three reasons: his
flat feet
, somewhat deficient eyesight, and inability to swim. Hence, he pursued a different path. Following high school, Van Allen went to
Iowa Wesleyan College
in Mount Pleasant. There, during the summer of 1932, after completing his freshman year, Van Allen was introduced to
geophysics
research under the tutelage of physics professor
Thomas C. Poulter
. Van Allen had great admiration for this early mentor. He stated in one of his autobiographical sketches, "Poulter, [was] one of the most inspiring and creative experimentalists that I have ever known before or since that time...." Poulter employed him as a summer assistant, "at 35 cents an hour, payable occasionally."
Van Allen majored in physics and graduated
summa cum laude
with his 37 classmates in June 1935. Poulter had been chosen by Admiral
Richard E. Byrd
as his chief scientist for the 1933–1935 Second Byrd Antarctic Expedition. He had the task of planning and conducting geophysical investigations during that expedition. Van Allen assisted Poulter in those preparations. His contributions included the development of a number of instruments, including a simple
seismograph
and a tilt-meter for recording the shifting of glacial surfaces. Van Allen was entrusted with the checkout of a sensitive field
magnetometer
on loan from the
Department of Terrestrial Magnetism
(DTM) of the
Carnegie Institution
of Washington, DC. In learning to use the magnetometer and its associated
theodolite
, he made a magnetic field survey of
Henry County, Iowa
, which was included in the 1932 national grid published by the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism. Reflecting later on this magnetometer, he referred to it as, "...the most beautiful instrument that I have ever used." In the course of his work with Poulter, Van Allen learned machine shop practice,
glass blowing
,
welding
and
brazing
, vacuum techniques and, of greatest importance, the essential elements of original experimental research.
Poulter invited Van Allen to accompany him on the Antarctic expedition, but Van Allen's parents vetoed the proposal. He had to be content with listening avidly to the
short-wave radio
reports from
Little America
to follow the expedition's progress. He, with the rest of the world, was electrified by Poulter's heroic rescue of Admiral Byrd from his lonely vigil at
South Pole Station
in August 1934.
Poulter and Byrd were honored by a public parade in Mount Pleasant the next summer, and Admiral Byrd delivered the chief commencement address at Van Allen's graduation exercises. Van Allen went to his "family" university, the
State University of Iowa
, for graduate work in physics. The physics faculty at the time numbered five, George W. Stewart (department head from 1909), John A. Eldridge, Edward P. T. Tyndall, Claude J. Lapp, and Alexander Ellett. Van Allen's master's thesis in solid-state physics, with Tyndall as his advisor, was entitled:
A Sensitive Apparatus for Determining Young’s Modulus at Small Tensional Strains.
He received his M.S. degree at the end of his first year there, in 1936. A fellowship allowed him to continue studying nuclear physics at the
Carnegie Institution
in Washington, D.C., where he also became immersed in research in
geomagnetism
,
cosmic rays
,
auroral
physics and the physics of Earth's upper atmosphere. Van Allen pursued his Ph.D. research with Professor Ellett, who was switching his primary focus at the time from atomic beams to experimental nuclear physics. As part of his work, Van Allen, with Robert Huntoon and others, built a highly improvised Cockroft-Walton high-voltage power supply and accelerator. After much hard work and diligent coaxing of the cantankerous machine, he was eventually able to make a pair of successful runs, resulting in his dissertation:
Absolute Cross-Section for the Nuclear Disintegration H2 + H2 > H3 + H1 and Its Dependence on Bombarding Energy
. He received his Ph.D. degree in June 1939.