From a recent interview with NASA’s Jim Hansen:

You grew up in Iowa and studied at the University of Iowa under legendary astrophysicist James Van Allen, discoverer of the radiation belt surrounding the Earth. Did that background prepare you for the public debates you’ve taken up?

The example I gave of Van Allen’s influence on students was his demeanor. He was just calm. He didn’t get flustered. When I went to NASA, I heard that his proposal for an experiment on a mission to Jupiter was not selected because NASA headquarters was not very happy with him; he criticized NASA repeatedly for its emphasis on putting men in space instead of automated spacecraft. When I mentioned that to him in a letter, he just said, “I know that my positions have not endeared me to people at NASA headquarters, but I take the position that I’m dealing with honorable men.”

It’s a good attitude.