James Van Allen is best known for his discovery of the radiation belts that encircle the earth. In addition, he designed the rockoon, or rocket balloon technique that enables rockets to be launched into outer space from mid-air rather than from the ground. Van Allen, whose interests included terrestrial electromagnetism and cosmic radiation, also helped develop the United States space program.

Born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa in 1914, Van Allen studied physics at both the Iowa Wesleyan college and the University of Iowa, where he earned his Ph.D. in 1939. Following a three year stint as a research fellow at the Carnegie Institution in Washington, he entered the Navy and served for four years as an ordinance and gunnery officer.

After World War II, Van Allen became the supervisor for the High Altitude Research Group and the Proximity Fuse Unit at Johns Hopkins University, where he investigated the conditions...