A few weeks ago, I was surprised to find two obituaries of interest to me in the New York Times; surprised, because I don't normally look at the obituaries. In a parallel to my dance/science dichotomy, the two notable people were Melissa Hayden, a dancer, and James Van Allen, a physicist. I make a few remarks about the latter here, and a few about the former on my dance blog.
A quote from "James A. Van Allen, Discoverer of Earth-Circling Radiation Belts, Is Dead at 91" by Walter Sullivan (August 10, 2006):
Explorer 1 was the first satellite put into orbit by the United States of America. For the record, von Braun died in 1977 and Pickering died in 2004. The three were born withing 4 years of each other. For a brief introduction to Werner von Braun, check out this song by Tom Lehrer.
A quote from "James A. Van Allen, Discoverer of Earth-Circling Radiation Belts, Is Dead at 91" by Walter Sullivan (August 10, 2006):
In the celebration of the Explorer 1 success, Dr. Van Allen posed for what became an iconic picture of the early days of spaceflight. He is standing with Wernher von Braun, whose team built the rocket, and William H. Pickering, who directed the spacecraft development, all smiling broadly and holding a model of the spacecraft high over their heads. He was the last of the three to die.
Explorer 1 was the first satellite put into orbit by the United States of America. For the record, von Braun died in 1977 and Pickering died in 2004. The three were born withing 4 years of each other. For a brief introduction to Werner von Braun, check out this song by Tom Lehrer.
