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Linus Carl Pauling (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, peace activist, author, and educator. He was one of the most influential chemists in history and ranks among the most important scientists in any field of the 20th century[1][2]. Pauling was among the first scientists to work in the fields of quantum chemistry, molecular biology, and orthomolecular medicine. He is one of only 4 individuals to have won multiple Nobel Prizes.[3] He is one of only two people to have been awarded a Nobel Prize in two different fields (the Chemistry and Peace prizes), the other being Marie Curie (the Chemistry and Physics prizes), and the only person to have been awarded each of his prizes without sharing it with another recipient.[4]
Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon, spent part of his childhood in the small town of Condon, Oregon, then returned and attended high school in Portland. He dropped out of high school one class short of graduation in order to attend Oregon Agricultural College (now Oregon State University), from which he graduated in 1922 with a degree in chemical engineering. Pauling then went to the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), where he received his Ph. D in physical chemistry and mathematical physics in 1925. Two years later, he accepted a position at Caltech as an assistant professor in theoretical chemistry. In 1932, Pauling published a landmark paper, detailing his theory of orbital hybridization and analyzed the tetravalency of carbon. That year, he also established the concept of electronegativity and developed a scale that would help predict the nature of chemical bonding. Pauling continued this work, but also began publishing papers on the structure of the atomic nucleus. In 1954, Pauling was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. As a biochemist, Pauling conducted research with X-ray crystallography and modeling in crystal and protein structures. This type of approach was used by Rosalind Franklin, James Watson and Francis Crick in the U.K to discover the double helix structure of the DNA molecule.
During the Second World War, Pauling worked on military research and development. However, when the war ended he became particularly concerned about the further development and possible use of atomic weapons and with the destruction inflicted on the world by war in general. Ava Helen Pauling, Linus's wife, was a pacifist and in time he came to share her views.[5] Pauling soon began to express his concerns with the effects of nuclear fallout and in 1962, was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his campaign against above ground nuclear testing. His beliefs were not without controversy at the time and he was criticized by some for his actions.
In 1959 Pauling together with Emile Zuckerkandl developed their theory of the molecular clock, which enables one to judge the separation in time between two species by looking at the number of differences in their hemoglobin proteins.[6] They estimated in this way that chimpanzees and humans diverged about 11 million years ago. They also developed a theory to explain the apparent constant rate of molecular change in the crucial proteins, which still retained their functions.[6]
Pauling was also successful as an author and educator. His first book, The Nature of the Chemical Bond (1939), is considered influential even to this day, as is his introductory textbook, General Chemistry (1947). Later in life, he became an advocate for greatly increased consumption of vitamin C and other nutrients. He generalized his ideas to define orthomolecular medicine, which is still regarded as unorthodox by conventional medicine. He popularized his concepts, analyses, research and insights in several successful but controversial books, such as How to Live Longer and Feel Better in 1986.
