Historical Figure
Linus Pauling
1901–1994
American scientist and activist (1901–1994)
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"Priestley Award Lecture" — March 27, 1969
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Biography
Linus Carl Pauling was an American chemist and peace activist. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific topics. New Scientist called him one of the 20 greatest scientists of all time. For his scientific work, Pauling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. For his peace activism, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962. He is one of five people to have won more than one Nobel Prize. Of these, he is the only person to have been awarded two unshared Nobel Prizes, and one of two people to be awarded Nobel Prizes in different fields, the other being Marie Skłodowska-Curie.
Timeline
The story of Linus Pauling, told in moments.
Publishes 'The Nature of the Chemical Bond,' applying quantum mechanics to chemistry. It becomes one of the most cited scientific papers in history. He essentially explains how atoms stick together.
Wins the Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research on chemical bonding. He's the first person to propose the alpha helix structure of proteins. He narrowly misses discovering DNA's structure because the State Department confiscated his passport.
Delivers a petition with 11,021 scientist signatures to the United Nations demanding an end to nuclear weapons testing. The Senate Internal Security Subcommittee subpoenas him. He's called a communist sympathizer. He keeps collecting signatures.
Wins the Nobel Peace Prize. He's the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes. Chemistry in 1954. Peace in 1962. The Caltech faculty throws him a party. The administration does not.
Dies of prostate cancer in Big Sur, California, at 93. He'd spent his last decades championing massive doses of Vitamin C as a treatment for cancer and the common cold. The medical establishment thought he was wrong. He didn't care.
In Their Own Words (13)
When an old and distinguished person speaks to you, listen to him carefully and with respect — but do not believe him. Never put your trust into anything but your own intellect. Your elder, no matter whether he has gray hair or has lost his hair, no matter whether he is a Nobel laureate — may be wrong. The world progresses, year by year, century by century, as the members of the younger generation find out what was wrong among the things that their elders said. So you must always be skeptical — always think for yourself.
Linus Pauling: Scientist and Peacemaker (2001) by Clifford Mead and Thomas Hager., 2001
Only when I began studying chemical engineering at Oregon Agricultural College did I realize that I myself might discover something new about the nature of the world.
Linus Pauling In His Own Words (1995) by Barbara Marinacci., 1995
Just think of the differences today. A young person gets interested in chemistry and is given a chemical set. But it doesn't contain potassium cyanide. It doesn't even contain copper sulfate or anything else interesting because all the interesting chemicals are considered dangerous substances. Therefore, these budding young chemists don't get a chance to do anything engrossing with their chemistry sets. As I look back, I think it is pretty remarkable that Mr. Ziegler, this friend of the family, would have so easily turned over one-third of an ounce of potassium cyanide to me, an eleven-year-old boy.
Linus Pauling In His Own Words (1995) by Barbara Marinacci, p. 29., 1995
I have always wanted to know as much as possible about the world.
Linus Pauling In His Own Words (1995) by Barbara Marinacci ., 1995
I realized that more and more I was saying, "It seems to me that we have come to the time war ought to be given up. It no longer makes sense to kill 20 million or 40 million people because of a dispute between two nations who are running things, or decisions made by the people who really are running things. It no longer makes sense. Nobody wins. Nobody benefits from destructive war of this sort and there is all of this human suffering." And Einstein was saying the same thing of course. So that is when we decided — my wife and I — that first, I was pretty effective as a speaker. Second, I better start boning up, studying these other fields so that nobody could stand up and say, "Well, the authorities say such and such "
Interview at Big Sur, California (11 November 1990)., 1990
Artifacts (15)
Born, Max; Hahn, Otto; Pauling, Linus; Heisenberg, Werner
Eschen, Fritz (Herstellung) (Fotograf)
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