James Van Allen quotes

James Van Allen was an American physicist renowned for his pioneering work in space science. His discovery of the Van Allen radiation belts fundamentally changed our understanding of Earth's magnetosphere. He made significant contributions to the development of unmanned space exploration and inspired generations of scientists. Here are 9 of his quotes:

A man is a fabulous nuisance in space right now. He's not worth all the cost of putting him up there and keeping him comfortable and working.

James Van Allen

As soon as we started looking at them, we saw the most remarkable situation. My first thought was, "Great guns! Something's gone wrong with the apparatus!" But then we got later North American tapes and everything seemed normal again.

James Van Allen

Our family was very fond of the University of Iowa. We thought it was a good place to go.

James Van Allen

After a vast research program, which depended very heavily upon the use of a number of highspeed computers, I am pleased to offer you the result: "Space is that in which everything else is." In other words, "Space is the hole that we are in."

James Van Allen

All this is very good in theory, but in practice, you take a piece of iron, wind a wire around it, then plug the wire in. The core gets hot, the wires smoke, and the fuse blows. So you see, there are practical limitations to theory.

James Van Allen

Apparently, something happens on the sun. It sends out a burst of gases. The reservoirs above our earth shake like a bowl of jelly. The radiation droozles out at the ends and makes the auroral displays at the North and South Poles.

James Van Allen

These days, it's really been uninteresting except when disasters occur.

James Van Allen

We had an erector set, and I was an avid fan of Popular Mechanics and Popular Science magazines.

James Van Allen