Dona Perfecta Essay

Dona Perfecta, composed by B. Perez Galdos, is a novel that investigates the contention between the new dynamic development and the old strict way of thinking. This contention happens in the little Spanish town of Orbajosa. Intolerant Catholic devotees rule Orbajosa. The most noticeable of the radicals is Dona Perfecta. Dona is conventional catholic and endeavors to battle any restriction to her fixed convictions. Pepe Rey, her nephew, presents the greatest test to Dona since he is an architect who depends on logical reality as opposed to strict confidence. Dona feels just as Pepe is testing her and the towns’ employment. This conviction drives Dona to turn the town against Pepe, yet additionally to have him executed. Dona’s Catholic conviction framework is just a veneer to her underhanded nature. The town of Orbajosa is introduced to be a little yet welcoming town. Pepe is invited to the town heartily and cheerfully. Dona is the first to welcome Pepe when the storyteller states, â€Å"the genuine articulation of her love, was accepting him at the entryway itself in her cherishing arms† (23). Dona seems, by all accounts, to be a cherishing and affable character. She likewise astounds Pepe with her long arrangements to his room when the storyteller states, â€Å"Pepe perceived in all the subtleties of the room the persevering and adoring hand of the woman† (24). Dona has demonstrated that she is fit for being caring and adoring towards the individuals who represent no danger to her way of life. Nonetheless, it is just when Pepe impugns religion that Dona feels undermined and starts to delight her abhorrent nature. When Pepe and the town standard, Don Inocencio, meet, the men conflict with their goals. Both are smart and along these lines, are obstinate. Pepe uncovers to Don Inocencio that science is more legitimate than religion when he states, â€Å"Mysticism in religion, routine in science, characteristic in craftsmanship, are coming up short, as the Pagan divine beings fell† (36). Pepe communicates his feelings about science and religion decisively. Wear Incencio and the towns’ individuals of Orbajosa feel that Pepe is undauntedly against their convictions. Expanding ill will is the aftereffect of Pepe’s dynamic attitude. Dona feels just as Pepe is a risk to the town’s lifestyle and the best way to dispose of the issue is to eliminate it totally. Dona is urgent to dispose of Pepe. She realizes that Pepe represents the perhaps to defile the towns goals with his dynamic way of thinking. Dona concludes that the town must betray Pepe. Dona blames Pepe for being ill bred in the congregation when she states, â€Å"between thinking things and indicating them in that contemptuous way, there is a separation which a man of good sense and great rearing ought to never cross† (56). Dona wants to make unjustifiable allegations about Pepe so as to influence the general feeling against Pepe. Pepe himself perceives the preposterousness of Dona’s allegation when he states, â€Å"I have demonstrated no scorn for any one, nor do I engage the thoughts which you credit to me† (57). Pepe is pained by the possibility that his own auntie would blame him for such unimportant acts. Pepe realizes that his dynamic goals are threatening to the town and are making doubt among him and Orbajosa. Dona realizes that the best way to genuinely dispose of Pepe is to execute him. Dona is overcome with the possibility that the town of Orbajosa is changing from a conventional outlook to a dynamic mentality. In response, Dona arranges the murdering of Pepe. She at that point lies about the slaughtering saying that Pepe ended it all when she states, â€Å"Pepe Rey at around twelve o’clock the previous evening entered the nursery of the house and shot himself in the privilege temple† (218). Dona produced this lie so as to conceal her malevolent activity. Dona depended on outrageous and detestable measures so as to save her method of thought. Her name Dona Perfecta is amusing as in Dona is a long way from impeccable in light of the fact that she is underhanded. The bad form that Dona submits revels the genuine dishonest nature of Dona as well as the double-dealing nature of Orbajosa overall. Dona Perfecta utilizes the contention among Pepe and Dona to show the solid restriction the dynamic development faces. While Pepe was invited from the start, he was before long shunned and aggrieved for his contemplations. The towns’ individuals of Orbajosa felt Pepe may compromise their lifestyle. Extraordinary measures were taken by Dona to settle Pepe. Maybe Galdos means the peruser to see that while individuals may give off an impression of being acceptable, in all actuality, they are not what they appear.

Blogging My Way to a Passionate Life

Blogging My Way to a Passionate Life I’m writing this post after recently finishing a year-long stint at CityLab â€" The Atlantic magazine’s website on the urbanized world. Amid covering everything from Kanye’s visit to Harvard’s design school and a birth on a D.C. metro platform to wild architectural proposals and all the maps the Internet could ever want, my first year of post-MIT life flew by just like that. This past year was full of big changesâ€"new city, new friends, new line of work. In the first few months of adjusting to fast-paced Internet #Journalism…between trying to pitch and write articles as quickly as I could and observing web traffic data as soon as my articles are published, I noticed that I’ve quickly ditched all the ways I’d been distilling my thoughts over the last 4-5 years. That is, in addition to no longer blogging on MIT Admissions about what I’m thinking/going through, I’ve also stopped updating the Tumblr I’d kept since my senior year of high school (the one I included in my MIT blogger application). The station manager speaks about the birth on the metro platform he walked away exclaiming, “The metro delivers!” This past year I wrote a great many articles for CityLab. Yet it feels as though I’ve lost (at least part of) my voice. In the process of learning how to put together an effective piece of magazine-y Internet article with a hint of viral potential, I’ve forgotten how to share thoughts and informationwithout latent concerns for how the content will perform, how it stacks up to other people writing on the same subject, how commenters (!!!) will respond. Autumn in D.C.   Sometime last fall, Ta-Nehisi Coates, a national correspondent/senior editor at The Atlantic and former professor of mine (he was a visiting scholar at MIT these past two years) was taking care of some business at the office. We obviously chatted about writing. At one point, he asked, “Do you have a blog where you can write about whatever you want?” (TNC himself is famous for thinking out loud on his corner of the web.) In that moment, I took the question lightly. Yeah? Maybe? Does it matter? I don’t have enough time to think of things to write for CityLab as is. Of course, now I realize it matters a lot. Three shots I took during a D.C. summer storm this Instagram pic is here because I like it, also this posts needs more pictures :)   It turns out, the “What are you passionate about?” question, which can be exciting for some and awfully stress-inducing for others, comes back time and time again after college apps. Over the last year, whether in pitching story ideas to my editor or seeking advice from other writers/editors, a lot of the discussion boiled down to: what are you curious about? My editor always pushed me to chase after stories I’m deeply interested inâ€"and over time, I also began noticing that awesome writing stems from the author being passionately curious about whatever he or she is writing about. In the context of college admissions and everything ambitious young people apply to these days, the word “Passion” just feels so worn, with so much pressure attached. It feels like the expectation is that not only should you know what your Passion is, but you should also be reasonably well-versed in it. For me recently, the goal has been to kick that expectationâ€" heaven knows where I got it came fromâ€"to the curb. For one, Ive made a vow to revive my Tumblr and resume jotting down Whateverall the things that I like and dont like, that make me think, that make me want to smash my keyboard. I’m convinced that if I’m living a truly passionate life, where I’m earnest and courageous about the questions that intrigue me, then I’d also be comfortable with working in the presence of people already much more experienced/knowledgeable/accomplished; I’d feel compelled to reach out and connect with peers interested in the same things; I’d feel at peace with being able to add just a little bit more to my mind and soul at a time. For a few weeks this summer, my church in D.C. replaced sermons with a talk series called “My Most Important Question”, during which church members are invited to discuss the major issues challenging their faith. One speaker this time around was a NBC News senior political reporter who goes on TV regularly, gets recognized on the streetsbasically, pretty successful. Yet his Most Important Question still revolves around whether his job is actually what he’s been called to do. One thing he said has stuck with me:  We tend to overestimate what we can do in a short period of time and underestimate what we can do in a long period of time. Here, he reminds us that a career is 40 years longâ€"it will take a long time to accomplish a lot, so live into it. Be present, persistent, patient, and take one step at a time.

Cursive Writing for Learning Disabled

Its not uncommon for special education students to struggle with writing. Dyslexia, dysgraphia, and various kinds of language-based disorders make themselves very pronounced when children are learning to write. But its less common for teachers to make this counter-intuitive move: Try cursive.   Generally considered to be more difficult for children than writing in manuscript (block letters) and losing ground in the battle for productive class time, script is finding a late-career resurgence with the special-ed crowd. Not only are there benefits to cursive writing that bleed into other skills (for example, the fine-motor workout of cursive writing has salutary effects on similar fingerwork), some scientists believe that children who can write neatly in script are better at math and other analysis. Why You Should Consider Cursive If handwriting is a struggle, give cursive writing a shot. Dont worry that handwriting (and reading handwriting) is becoming something of a lost art—all students, especially special ed kids, benefit from successes. Here are some reasons you may want to flip the script in your classroom: The letters flow much more easily, and usually only one movement is necessary. Children often struggle with the many fine movements required to print. For children with motor-planning issues, remembering where to put the circles and sticks, crossing ts and dotting is, and remembering the orientation of each letter is no easy task. How often have you seen these children confuse bs and ds and put the circles on ps on the wrong side?Spaces separate words in cursive, while the letters are joined. Therefore, phonetics are joined together. Many students find that script writing is conceptually easier to grasp in this regard.  Rarely will you see reversals in cursive writing, unlike printing. Children respond well to the left-to-right flow of writing.Teaching cursive saves time. Why spend time to learn printing first, when children will learn it through reading? Its simply not essential to have students print and learn cursive at the same time.  Most teachers report that children who le arn handwriting exclusively show no difficulties reading print. Thats not always the case when children learn printing first. In fact, many teachers moving to cursive writing instead of print report that it was the best move for their students. Some Advice for Teaching Cursive Stick with it.Begin with the letters without loops (t, i, d, p, m, n, r).Show the child how to slant the paper to make writing more natural.Begin with lowercase letters.Remember that motor skills of children with learning disabilities are often weak, provide dotted cursive writing paper for ease and guide the childs hand. Direct teaching is recommended. Remember to be patient, in the long run youre saving teaching time!

Police Brutality And Its Effects On Minority Citizens

Recently in the news, Police have been under scrutiny for brutality, especially against minority citizens. There is no question that police officers face an extremely difficult job that puts them in life-threating situations, with split-second decisions that could be the difference of life and death. With the advent of low cost cameras, especially cell phone cameras, police are under constituent scrutiny. Is police brutality really an issue, or is it just an attempt to undermine our police officers? With American citizens losing their life to police officers, it’s worth a closer look. Those who don’t believe police brutality is an issue argue that police brutality and abuse is exaggerated, and that rarely do officers use excessive force. They believe that criminals file false complaints in attempt to manipulate the justice system. When officers do use lethal force, it is in tense situations with instant decisions that need to be made. Another popular statement is â€Å"a few bad apples,† which means that there are a large number of officers in the U.S. so there is bound to be a few crocked cops. Those that believe police brutality is an issue argue that it is most likely a much larger issue than we know. They believe that the â€Å"blue wall of silence,† in which officers do not report against one another, and the cover up culture actually hide the issue. In addition, they believe that the fact that officers do not get charged with crimes when caught committing police brutality onlyShow MoreRelatedThe Effects Of Police Brutality On The Relationship1243 Words   |  5 Pages Bad Blood: The Effects of Police Brutality on the Relationship Between Minorities and the Police Brandon Seigle June 16, 2017 CRJS 498 NC AT University ..................Column Break..................As children we are taught that not only are police officers our friends, but that their job is to protect and serve our communities. Unfortunately, for many minorities this image is shattered as incident after incident occurs in the streets of their communities. With today’s technology, theseRead MorePolice Brutality And The United States1630 Words   |  7 Pages Police Brutality is an ongoing problem and existent concern in the United States and should be resolved immediately. Law enforcement must function as an element that consists of organized and civilized officers. The presence of police brutality is becoming more of an issue as society grows. The problem posed by the illegal exercise of police power is an ongoing reality for individuals of a disfavored race, class, or sexual orientation. Police brutality must be stopped so that police do not forgetRead MorePolice Brutality Of The United States1415 Words   |  6 Pag esPolice Brutality Police abuse is one of the most violated human rights in the United States. Police are portrayed as heroes that stop bank robbers, stop kidnappings and catch murders, but as of recent year’s police actions have come into the public eye. While typically citizens worry about their safety from criminals, it also seems they have to keep an eye out for the people who are supposed to protect them from danger. Thousands of complaints about police brutality is reported each year, and seemsRead MorePolice Brutality And The United States Essay1474 Words   |  6 PagesBeing a minority in the United States has never been easy and does not seem to be getting any better. Minorities have been exposed to violence by law enforcement for many decades. Law enforcement s are tasked with protecting and serving its citizens, not to harass and assault them. Police brutality is a continuous problem in the United States and officers need to be accountable for their actions. This research project wi ll examine how police brutality often leads to death because of some officersRead MorePolice Brutality And The United States Essay1484 Words   |  6 PagesHarass and Assault Being a minority in the United States has never been easy and does not seem to be getting any better. Minorities have been exposed to violence by law enforcement for many decades. Law enforcement s are tasked with protecting and serving its citizens, not to harass and assault them. Police brutality is a continuous problem in the United States and officers need to be accountable for their actions. This research project will examine how police brutality often leads to death becauseRead MorePolice Brutality And Its Effect On Society1610 Words   |  7 Pages Police Brutality in the USA Police brutality has adverse effects on society in its entirety and, hence, there is need to stop these acts so as to improve cohesiveness and the observation of the law in society. Police brutality is an old problem that has been around in this country for many years. Unfortunately, civilians have experienced it in their thousands, suffering varying degrees of damages, ranging from injuries or even loss of their lives at the hands of the brutal police. Even more dishearteningRead MoreEssay 21110 Words   |  5 PagesApril 29, 2015 Professor Christian Heisler ENG-103(Argument Essay) Police Brutality has become a serious topic in today’s time being that every time you turn on the TV you see them mention another act of violence from the police and since that were in 2015, cellphone cameras are being used to capture every single second of it, so it won’t become he say, she say evidence. According to Salem Press Encyclopedia, police brutality is abuses of authority that amount to serious and divisive human rightsRead MoreEnglish 1A Essay 3 1 3 1624 Words   |  7 PagesSomer 13 November 2014 The Horrors of Police Brutality Imagine being in the Bart train, going to a party with some of your friends, but while in route, you are shot by the Bart police for a crime you did not commit. This is the story of a young man named Oscar Grant. On New Years Eve of 2009, he was fatally shot. . Police brutality is the use of excessive force, physically or verbally, by a police officer. In one year, how many incidents of police brutality or misconduct do you think have occurredRead MorePolice Brutality And The Civil Rights Of Citizens1205 Words   |  5 PagesPolice Brutality, the use of excessive force commonly physical, but also in forms such as: false arrest, racial profiling, surveillance abuse, sexual abuse, verbal attacks and psychological intimidation, by a police officer. This is a ruthless act and issue that continues to be a major problem for both people in law enforcement, but majorly to the public and is life threatening. It is a saddening act that jeopardizes the civil rights of citizens and the rights of people around the world. Police officersRead MoreThe Reality Of Police Brutality1473 Words   |  6 PagesThe Reality of Police Brutality: What it Means for Chicago Ever since the case of Trayvon Martin being shot in 2013, dozens and dozens of cases of injustice have been brought up to the eyes of the media and the law. Lately, the majority of those cases have been about police brutality, and it’s taken such a strong effect on the public that movements have been born out of it, such as the BlackLivesMatter movement. The situation has reached a point to where President Obama stepped out and addressed

Infomercial Analyis Free Essays

Insanity Infomercial The Beach Body Insanity program boasts as being the hardest workout on DVD. This comes across different than most programs offering to assist with weight loss and exercise. Most info commercials, today try to lure the consumers in by how easy the program is to follow and how effortless the workout is; and some even claim that a lifestyle change is not necessary. We will write a custom essay sample on Infomercial Analyis or any similar topic only for you Order Now The Insanity program has people saying how hard this program is, that the program requires dedication and a decision to change your lifestyle. Incorporating the Insanity program into an individual’s lifestyle will take a commitment to make 45 minutes a day for the workout and to plan to eat healthy. Most people can make time for this workout; especially since it does not require any special equipment; you use your body as resistance, stretching and is a very high cardiovascular exercises. Whether you are in shape or a coach potato, this comes across as not for the faint at heart; not many programs trying to sell it to someone trying to get in shape that people have thrown up on the first day. One of the benefits about Insanity is that there are DVDs, while there is a preplanned work out on a printed calendar to follow, can be customized to fit any fitness program by pausing the program or taking the necessary breaks one needs and to start back. Most people can stick to a program for 30 days, with this program it indicates that you will see results in that time frame; as well as seeing a body that would take most people a year to achieve in 60 days. This program seems to be expensive, with shipping and handling it cost $145. 0; if you take into account that a gym membership is $20. 00 a month, then the membership alone would $240. 00 for a year. To be able to achieve the results that the commercial states a physical trainer would need to set a workout program for most people at an additional cost. Taking the cost of a year’s membership at a local gym and a program that states you can see the same results in 60 days, the amount of time that would be saved this progra m is comparable and cheaper than other fitness programs. I believe that the Insanity program has truthfully presented the potential benefits of the program because it is not promising an easy fix. It clearly states that dedication and a commitment is necessary. It also comes across as not easy by offering a reward for completing the 60 day program. It also, discusses that a nutritional change is required. An alternative to Insanity would be a workout totaling 45 minute workout. I would recommend doing the following: * 1500-caloric intake diet high in protein and fiber; low in fat and sugar. * Exercising 6 days a week * High intensity exercises with less rest time 4 days. * Yoga the other 2 day. Making lifestyle changes and adding an exercise program is going to be hard and take dedication. Whether you decide to purchase a program from an infomercial, walk in your neighborhood or join a gym; it is important to just commit and allow room for error but make the necessary changes to have a healthier lifestyle. How to cite Infomercial Analyis, Papers

Sam Hallys Relationship in Master Harold and the Boys Essay Example

Sam Hallys Relationship in Master Harold and the Boys Essay December 6th, 2010 An analysis of Sam and Hally’s relationship in Master Harold†¦ and the boys Athol Fugard’s Master Harold†¦and the boys provides a simple setting in which the main focus shifts from the plot to the story’s characters. The relationship of the play’s two main characters, Sam and Hally, becomes quite apparent from the beginning of the play. Their relationship took on many different forms, each serving a different purpose. The relationship between Sam and Hally at the beginning of the play can be described as father and son, friend and friend, and employer and employee. As we can see from the conversations between Sam and Hally, as well as Hally and his mother, Hally’s father is in the hospital. It becomes apparent that the subject of his father is a touchy one, indicating that there is some form of conflict there. Because of the lack of father-figure in Hally’s life, he finds one in Sam. We can see their relationship take on a more father-and-son style when Sam is encouraging Hally to do well in his studies, as well as when Sam is trying to calm Hally down after the call from his mother. Hally had to deal with the loss of the fatherly relationship at a very young age. We will write a custom essay sample on Sam Hallys Relationship in Master Harold and the Boys specifically for you for only $16.38 $13.9/page Order now We will write a custom essay sample on Sam Hallys Relationship in Master Harold and the Boys specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer We will write a custom essay sample on Sam Hallys Relationship in Master Harold and the Boys specifically for you FOR ONLY $16.38 $13.9/page Hire Writer Because of this he searched for the closest thing he could find to it, which was his mother’s employee. This affiliation developed and eventually stemmed off, but it mostly likely originated as a young boy desperately seeking for someone to fill the empty role of a father. Hally and Sam also share a friendly relationship. The author utilizes flashbacks to explain the length and depth of their friendship. When Hally was young, he would spend days in Hally and Willie’s room away from his mother, playing chess or flying kites. When Sam first brought up the subject, Hally barely even remembered because he was so young. Their room would be his safe haven, his place to escape to, and it was a large part of his childhood. Sam and Willie became friends instead of the employees that they were. Even so, it is obvious that Sam and Hally have more of a friendship than Willie and Hally. Willie calls Hally â€Å"Master Hally†, while Sam feels comfortable enough to simply call him â€Å"Hally†. Another area in which their friendship is extremely apparent is school work. One might say that they take on more of a teacher-student relationship in reference to schoolwork, but it is more of a friendly way in which Hally teaches Sam. When Sam is reading and mispronounces a word, Hally simply corrects him nonchalantly. He does not make a large fuss about Sam’s limited knowledge, or makes Sam feel inferior. He simply corrects him and moves on. Hally also shows genuine interest on Sam’s opinion during their conversation on the Men of Magnitude. He does correct Sam, but he does it in such a way that it is constructive and gets Sam to think instead of making him feel embarrassed. This is true for about 90% of the conversation, while the other 10% is a completely different story, which brings one to the next point. Although Hally and Sam’s relation is for the most part constructive, there are times where it can be particularly poisonous. In spite of all of their years of friendship and support given on both sides, Hally is still a white boy, and Sam is still a black man, and there is nothing they can do to change that. Hally still feels a slight superiority over Sam and Willie, however subliminal or instinctive it may be. When one gets down to it, Hally is still the employer, and Sam is still the employee. This superiority becomes apparent several times, such as when Hally says â€Å"Act your bloody age! Cut out the nonsense now and get on with your work. (18). Hally feels comfortable swearing in front of the men, which may show a lack of respect he has for them. Also, when Sam tells Hally that his father may be discharged from the hospital, Hally immediately goes on the defensive and accuses Sam of hearing wrong. He cannot fathom that he would be the one who was mistaken, so he assumes it was the lesser of the two of them. This instinct has been bore into Hally, and it might no longer be his fault. After years and years of everyone around him treating these black men like they were lesser, a young, impressionable boy like himself cannot remain untainted. It becomes a way of life, and goes unnoticed. This can also be symbolized as the kite that Sam built for Hally. Kites fly on their own, and believe that they are free, but then they are pulled back. No matter how far away they are, there will always be that string to pull them back, to control them. Even though Sam was lead to believe that him and Hally were on more personal terms, Hally’s sudden professional attitude whenever things did not go his way brought him back to reality. That Hally was his boss, and he was simply an employee. Sam and Hally have a very complicated relationship. It takes on many levels, each having its own benefits and disadvantages to the other person. These levels are father and son, friend to friend, and employer and employee. Hally seems to alter the relationship to whatever suits him best. If things are going well, then he enjoys the relationship. If things take a bad turn, he turns the relationship professional. Sooner or later Hally is going to have to realize that he cannot manipulate the relationship as he has been doing, and that if he continues to do whatever he wishes he will lose Sam in the process.

James A. Van Allen Biography

James A. Van Allen Biography You cant see it or feel it, but more than a thousand miles above Earths surface, theres a region of charged particles that protects our atmosphere from destruction by the solar wind and cosmic rays. Its called the Van Allen belt, named for the man who discovered it.   Meet the Belt Man Dr. James A. Van Allen was an astrophysicist best known for his work on the physics of the magnetic field that surrounds our planet. He was particularly interested in its interactions with the solar wind, which is a stream of charged particles flowing from the Sun. (When it slams into our atmosphere, it causes a phenomenon called space weather). His discovery of radiation regions high above Earth followed up on an idea held by other scientists that charged particles could be trapped in the uppermost part of our atmosphere.  Van Allen worked on Explorer 1, the first U.S. artificial satellite to be placed in orbit, and this spacecraft revealed the secrets of Earths magnetosphere. That included the existence of the belts of charged particles that bear his name.   James Van Allen was born in Mount Pleasant, Iowa on September 7, 1914. He attended Iowa Wesleyan College where he received his Bachelor of Science degree. He went on to the University of Iowa and worked on a degree in solid state physics, and took a Ph.D. in nuclear physics in 1939. Wartime Physics Following school, Van Allen accepted employment with the Department of Terrestrial Magnetism at the Carnegie Institution of Washington, where he studied photodisintegration.Thats a process where a high-energy photon (or packet) of light is absorbed by an atomic nucleus. The nucleus then splits to form lighter elements, and releases a neutron, or a proton or an alpha particle. In astronomy, this process occurs inside certain types of supernovae.   In April 1942, Van Allen joined the Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) at Johns Hopkins University where he worked to develop a rugged vacuum tube and did research on proximity fuzes (used in explosives and bombs). Later in 1942, he entered the Navy, serving in the South Pacific Fleet as an assistant gunnery officer to field test and complete operational requirements for the proximity fuzes. Post-War Research   After the war, Van Allen returned to civilian life and worked in high altitude research. He worked at the Applied Physics Laboratory, where he organized and directed a team to conduct high-altitude experiments. They used V-2 rockets captured from the Germans.   In 1951, James Van Allen became head of the physics department at the University of Iowa. A few years later, his  career took an important turn when he and several other American scientists developed proposals for the launch of a scientific satellite. It was to be part of the research program conducted during the International Geophysical Year (IGY) of 1957-1958. From Earth to the Magnetosphere After the success of the Soviet Unions Sputnik 1 launch in 1957, Van Allen ¹s Explorer spacecraft was approved for launch on a Redstone rocket. It flew on January 31, 1958, and returned enormously important scientific data about the radiation belts circling the Earth. Van Allen became a celebrity due to the success of that mission, and he went on to achieve other important scientific projects in space. In one way or another, Van Allen was involved in the first four Explorer probes, the first Pioneers, several Mariner efforts, and an orbiting geophysical observatory. James A. Van Allen retired from the University of Iowa in 1985 to become Carver Professor of Physics, Emeritus, after having served as the head of the Department of Physics and Astronomy from 1951. He died of heart failure at the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics in Iowa City on August 9, 2006. In honor of his work, NASA named two radiation belt storm probes after him. The Van Allen Probes were launched in 2012 and have been studying the Van Allen Belts and near-Earth space. Their data is helping the design of spacecraft that can better withstand trips through this high-energy region of Earths magnetosphere.   Edited and revised by Carolyn Collins Petersen