Herman W. Hoerlin (5 July, 1903, 6 November 1983) German/American atmospheric scientist and alpinist born in Schwäbish Hall he made early ascents near Kangchenjunga and the Cordillera Blanca. He attained the highest summit of the day in Jongsong Peak in 1930 wherein he was the expedition photographer. On 20th July, 1932 he and fellow climber Erwin Schneider were in the first party to reach the summit of Huascaran Sur. During this expedition he was also the first to to ascend Chopicalqua.
Studying in Berlin and Stuttgart and establishing the world’s highest atmospheric observation station at 6000 m. in Peru he measured cosmic rays in the global region between Spitsbergen and Cape Horn for his thesis. He confirmed the particle nature of cosmic rays shortly after Compton and before the publication of Robert Millikan’s work.
in 1938 he and his family emigrated to the U.S. and in time moved to the Los Alamos National Laboratory with the encouragement of Hans Bethe. He was in charge of studying the atmospheric effects of high altitude nuclear tests. He twice testified before congress on these matters. The reader can consult the 1983 Physics Today article by Hans Bethe, Cornell. University et al for more particulars on his life.