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ASTRONOMER

James Van Allen

1914 - 2006

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Icon of person James Van Allen

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 after 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. Read more on Wikipedia

Since 2007, the English Wikipedia page of James Van Allen has received more than 345,182 page views. His biography is available in 45 different languages on Wikipedia (up from 44 in 2019). James Van Allen is the 101st most popular astronomer (up from 127th in 2019), the 1,544th most popular biography from United States (up from 1,836th in 2019) and the 18th most popular American Astronomer.

Memorability Metrics

  • 350k

    Page Views (PV)

  • 59.22

    Historical Popularity Index (HPI)

  • 45

    Languages Editions (L)

  • 8.18

    Effective Languages (L*)

  • 3.53

    Coefficient of Variation (CV)

Page views of James Van Allens by language


Among ASTRONOMERS

Among astronomers, James Van Allen ranks 101 out of 531Before him are Johann Elert Bode, Nicolas-Claude Fabri de Peiresc, William Huggins, Karl Wilhelm Reinmuth, Karl Ludwig Hencke, and J. Allen Hynek. After him are Mary Somerville, Reinhard Genzel, Frank Drake, Edward Charles Pickering, George Biddell Airy, and Ernst Öpik.

Most Popular Astronomers in Wikipedia

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Contemporaries

Among people born in 1914, James Van Allen ranks 55Before him are Mario Bava, Rafael Kubelík, William Westmoreland, Agostino Casaroli, Francisco da Costa Gomes, and Michael Morris, 3rd Baron Killanin. After him are Renato Dulbecco, María Félix, Lilli Palmer, Jan Karski, Unity Mitford, and Kurt Franz. Among people deceased in 2006, James Van Allen ranks 58Before him are Claude Jade, Maktoum bin Rashid Al Maktoum, Glenn Ford, Richard Kuklinski, Betty Friedan, and Richard Fleischer. After him are Karel Appel, Joachim Fest, Ta Mok, Lillian Asplund, John Money, and William Styron.

Others Born in 1914

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Others Deceased in 2006

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In United States

Among people born in United States, James Van Allen ranks 1,544 out of 18,182Before him are Brad Dourif (1950), Jennifer Garner (1972), Chief Seattle (1786), Thomas J. Sargent (1943), Martha Stewart (1941), and Benedict Arnold (1741). After him are Jake Gyllenhaal (1980), Matt LeBlanc (1967), James McKeen Cattell (1860), Michelle Phillips (1944), Harry Stack Sullivan (1892), and Poul Anderson (1926).

Among ASTRONOMERS In United States

Among astronomers born in United States, James Van Allen ranks 18Before him are Russell Alan Hulse (1950), Lewis A. Swift (1820), Edward Emerson Barnard (1857), Eugene Merle Shoemaker (1928), Joseph Hooton Taylor Jr. (1941), and J. Allen Hynek (1910). After him are Frank Drake (1930), Edward Charles Pickering (1846), Carolyn S. Shoemaker (1929), Henry Norris Russell (1877), Harlow Shapley (1885), and Maria Mitchell (1818).