The James Van Allen reference article from the English Wikipedia on 24-Apr-2004
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James Van Allen

Helping orphans the way you would do it

James Alfred Van Allen (born September 7 1914) is an American physicist associated with the University of Iowa. The Van Allen radiation belts were named after him, following the 1958 satellite missions (Explorer I and Explorer III) in which Van Allen had argued that a Geiger counter should be used to detect charged particles. He was awarded the 1989 Crafoord Prize for his work.