Pauling’s Theory of Resonance: A Soviet Controversy

“As to the Russian scientists and the scientific controversies, I must say that I have great difficulty in understanding what is happening. The most likely explanation seems to be that some of the Russian scientists are taking advantage of the political situation to advance themselves at the expense of their colleagues. Others are then drawn [...]

The Pauling Electronegativity Scale: Part 2, Inspired by Biology

Linus Pauling’s electronegativity scale was inspired by Biology. In the early 1930s, chromosomal genes were being mapped out by measuring how frequently two independent traits were inherited together; the idea being that the closer the genes were, the more likely that they would stay linked during genetic crossover.
Pauling tested this idea with chemical compounds, finding [...]

The Pauling Electronegativity Scale: Part 1, Historical Background

The development of an accurate electronegativity scale was one of Linus Pauling’s many major contributions to the study of chemistry.  In this two part series, we’ll first look at the electronegativity research that preceded Pauling’s breakthrough, before analyzing the details of the scale that Pauling ultimately derived.
The concept of electronegativity is measured along a relative [...]

Pauling’s Methodology: X-ray Crystallography

“I was very fortunate in having A.A. Noyes suggest to me, or tell me, that I was to work with Roscoe Dickinson on x-ray crystallography, determination of the structure of crystals by x-ray diffraction. This technique gave for the first time detailed information about how atoms are related to other atoms in a crystal and [...]

Thinking Structurally: The Roots of Pauling’s Hemoglobin Work

“Linus Pauling is one of that select group of individuals whose lives have made a discernible impact on the contemporary world. His contributions to molecular chemistry have been substantial and fully deserving of the recognition that he received in the form of a Nobel Prize in chemistry….Pauling continued to do productive scientific work throughout his [...]

Linus Pauling: Movie Star Extraordinaire

“In our search for a person to do a set of two or three filmed lectures in chemistry you have been suggested over and over again as the candidate of first choice.“
- J. A. Campbell, National Science Foundation. Letter to Linus Pauling. 1956.
The National Science Foundation, founded in 1950, is an organization dedicated to [...]

Pauling the Educator

“…[T]o awaken an interest in chemistry in students we mustn’t make the courses consist entirely of explanations, forgetting to mention what there is to be explained.”
- Linus Pauling. Letter to A. A. Noyes. November 18, 1930.
Linus Pauling began his teaching career in 1919, as an undergraduate sophomore, when Oregon Agricultural College offered him an assistant [...]

Pauling and the Nobel Prize Trip

“I doubt that many Nobel Prizes have been so popular with the masses in science…. [A]lmost all are delighted that the Nobel Prize embarrasses the State Department.”
- Charles Coryell in a letter to J. Robert Oppenheimer, as referenced in Force of Nature, by Tom Hager, p. 451. November 2, 1954.
In 1954, Linus Pauling was awarded [...]

The Road to Stockholm: The Appalling Life of Linus Pauling

“Dr. Linus Pauling is the man for me / He makes violent changes in my chemistry / Oh, fie, when he rolls his eyes / All my atoms ionize.”
- Chemistry-Biology Stock Company, C.I.T.. Song lyrics from “The Road to Stockholm.” 1954.
Since Linus Pauling’s revolutionary work in chemistry in the early 1930s and the subsequent publication [...]

Pauling’s Rules

“I am enclosing a copy of a manuscript which Mr. Sturdivant and I have prepared, dealing with the structure of brookite. We feel rather confident in our structure, and are pleased to have begun work in the field which you recently opened — the study of complex ionic crystals.”
- Linus Pauling. Letter to William Lawrence [...]