James Van Allen: The First Eight Billion Miles

by Abigail Foerstner

Astrophysicist and space pioneer James Van Allen (1914-2006), for whom the Van Allen radiation belts were named, was among the principal scientific investigators for twenty-four space missions, including Explorer I in 1958, the first successful U.S. satellite; Mariner 2' s 1962 flyby of Venus, the first successful mission to another planer; and the 1970's Pioneer 10 and Pioneer 11 , missions that surveyed Jupiter and Saturn. Drawing on Van Allen's correspondence and publications, years of interviews with him as well as with more than a hundred other scientists, and declassified documents from such archives as the Jet Propulsion Laboratory, the Kennedy Space Center, and the Applied Physics Laboratory. Often called the father of space science, Van Allen led the way to mapping a new solar system based on the solar wind, massive solar storms, and cosmic rays. Foerstner's compelling biography charts the eventful life and times of this trailblazing physicist.

Genres: Science, Biography

396 pages, Hardcover

First published November 15, 2007

About the author

Dr. Foerstner teaches news writing and science writing at Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism. In addition, Dr. Foerstner served as a staff reporter for the suburban sections of the Chicago Tribune for ten years, where she wrote articles about science and the environment. She is the author of Picturing Utopia: Bertha Shambaugh and the Amana Photographers (University of Iowa Press, 2000), as well as multiple articles on science, history and the visual arts. Her newest book, James Van Allen: The First Eight Billion Light Miles, took her seven years to research and write. Carl McIlwain, research professor of physics at University of California at San Diego, claims that “This in-depth portrayal of the life and work of an important twentieth-century scientist should take an important place both as a biography of an interesting life and as a resource for future historians of space physics

Reviews

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

For approximately a year in the early 1990’s, I worked as a programmer in the Department of Physics and Astronomy at the University of Iowa. During that time, I had a few brief encounters with Dr. Van Allen and he was as nice and humble as he is depicted in this book. Even though he had no idea who I was, he would smile at me when I said, “Hello Dr. Van Allen” and give a polite hello in response.
That aside, as is stated in this book, his scientific achievements are off the charts. Some of the most endearing aspects are how the early scientific packages were literally built from ad hoc parts. The local hardware stores were familiar with grad students from the physics department popping in looking for off-the-shelf hardware that they needed immediately as they constructed machines that were to be sent into space to test the environment.
One of the best anecdotes occurs on page 250. In 1971 grad student Peter Alonzi got on a Greyhound bus in Chicago to go back to school at the University of Iowa in Iowa City, Iowa. He sat down next to a nice man with a friendly smile and when he introduced himself the man shook his hand and said, “Hi, I’m James Van Allen.” Van Allen was on the bus to save money for the physics department and the two talked for four hours.
A strong proponent of robotic exploration and an opponent of human spaceflight due to the relatively high cost, Van Allen was somewhat shunted aside in the political battles over funding for the shuttle and human occupied space stations. He was not surprised at the massive cost overruns and reduced operations of the shuttle and the International Space Station.
A man that is extremely unappreciated for his talents as a hands-on scientist that knew how to build things and was exceptional at delegating responsibility, Van Allen should rank alongside others such as Edison, Tesla and the modern wonder children of the electronic age. It is not possible to read this biography and think otherwise.

[Herr Bücher · Rating 3 out of 5]

Van Allen's childhood of hard work and constant learning is well-worth replicating, as it produced a man who'd humbly innovate around set-backs to do cutting-edge research with little more than balloons and model rockets. Biggest take-aways: in his war years, he pioneered a radio-echoing detonator that turned the tide in the Pacific by making anti-aircraft shells six times more accurate; in the 50s, he made great advances in mapping cosmic ray bombardment of the Earth while launching balloon-assisted rockets from the deck of a Navy ice breaker; in the late 50s and early 60s, his Explorer experiments became the first scientific payloads in outer space, where they mapped the Earths's radiation belts (solar wind trapped by the planet's magnetic field to form bands of intense radiation); he was from the 60s onward a champion for unmanned spaceflight, noting that 80% of the things we learn in space have come from robots, not people. Probably only worth reading if you're a space nerd, make-spacer, or DIYer.

[Shawn Dvorak · Rating 4 out of 5]

As a U of Iowa astronomy grad who took freshmen astronomy from Van Allen himself (yes, I'm that old), and worked for a few years in his office, reading this book was clearly a duty. Foerstner did an excellent job portraying Van Allen's open, friendly manner in which he dealt with everyone. The detailed information about his youth, growing up in small-town Iowa, explained a lot about his easy-going and kind nature. The latter part of the book gave a good recounting of his scientific research, including the celebrated discover of the Van Allen radiation belts (a name his humble nature never really felt comfortable with) was well-done with just enough depth so that it won't overwhelm anyone.

[Daniel Zaharevitz · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting book on a very interesting man. Van Allen was not only a major figure in the earliest satellites, he played a major role in using technology to help win WWII, scientific relations with the Soviet Union and associated cold war politics, further unmanned exploration of the solar system, and the discussion of manned vs unmanned exploration of space. It's a lot of material and it is not surprising that the author often told things out of historical sequence to try to maintain a common theme. Unfortunately I think this was handled a bit clumsily, with more repetition and time confusion than necessary. Still quite an interesting read.

[Catherine Mustread · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interviewed on New Books In Historu in 2008. The interview can be found here -- http://newbooksnetwork.com/abigail-fo...