Linus Pauling, Brilliant Scientist, Peacemaker,and Two Time Nobel Prize Winner

Linus was the son of a pharmacist, Henry Pauling and his wife Lucy. Born in Portland, Oregon in 1901. He didn't receive a High School Diploma until 1962 although he went on to earn his bachelor's from Oregon State College in 1922, a doctorate from the California Institute of Technology in 1925. He also recieved honorary degrees from universities in seven countries. Pauling was a prodigy of his time, becoming the youngest person elected to the National Academy of Sciences, known for being outspoken and leaping over the scientific boundaries of the time in physics, chemistry, biology as well as medical research. Pauling's studies were aided by a National Research Council fellowship, and a Guggenheim Foundation. From 1927 until ‘64, Linus was on the staff at California Institute of Technology, where he earned a reputation as a gifted teacher with a willingness to engage in controversy. For 22 years he was chairman on the Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering. Pauling also served as director of the Gates and Crellin Laboratories of Chemistry. He was involved with the Center for the Study of Democratic Institutions at Santa Barbara, California, as a research professor for four years in the 1960's and from 1967 to ‘69 a professor of chemistry at the University of California at San Diego. Linus Pauling also served on the staff at Stanford University beginning in 1969.

He wrote The Nature of the Chemical Bond, one of the most sited sources in scientific history, and won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954, he was cited "for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances.” Linus Pauling went on to win the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962. With the announcement of resumed nuclear testing in August, 1961 by the Soviet Union, Pauling put his efforts into persuading world leaders of the time on the necessity of a test ban treaty. His intellectual position is summarized in Harper's Magazine. Linus was quoted from Harper's saying, "I have said that my ethical principles have caused me to reach the conclusion that the evil of war should be abolished; but my conclusion that war must be abolished if the human race is to survive is based not on ethical principles but on my thorough and careful analysis, in relation to international affairs, of the facts about the changes that have taken place in the world during recent years, especially with respect to the nature of war." The Nuclear Test Ban Treaty was signed in July, 1963, and went into effect on October 10, 1963, the same day on which the Nobel Committee announced the Peace Prize was to be awarded to Linus Pauling.

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Harper's Magazine, 226 (May, 1963)

From Nobel Lectures, Peace 1951-1970, Editor Frederick W. Haberman, Elsevier Publishing Company, Amsterdam, 1972: first published in the book series Les Prix Nobel. It was later edited and republished in Nobel Lectures. To cite this document, always state the source as shown above.*

During World War II, Pauling participated in scientific enterprises deemed vital to the protection of the country. Early in the war he was a consultant to the explosives division of the National Defense Research Commission and a member of the Research Board for National Security. For his contributions, which included work on rocket propellants, on an oxygen deficiency indicator for pressurized space, those in submarines and aircraft, he was awarded the Presidential Medal of Merit in 1948. He would go on to construct the first satisfactory model of a protein molecule, a discovery that led to the understanding of the living cell. Linus also created antibodies by altering molecules of globulin in the blood, developing a substitute for plasma. A short time later Pauling presented a petition signed by 9,235 scientists from countries across the world to the United Nations, protesting further nuclear testing. In that same year he published No More War! In the early fifties Pauling recieved accusations of being Communist which he reasonable and rationally denied. The accusations may have been reason enough for the Department of State to restrict his eligibility to obtain a passport.

Linus Pauling was a member of Einstein's Emergency Committee of Atomic Scientists, active from 1946 to 1950. Pauling was a supporter of peace organizations and as an individually waged a campaign against war and nuclear weapons.Linus proposed the developement of a World Peace Research Organization to "attack the problem of preserving the peace".
He also authored the book "Vitamin C and the Common Cold ", that claimed the common cold could be controlled by improving the nutritional intake of ascorbic acid (vitamin C).The book won the I971 PBK Book Award in Literature of Science. Linus Pauling was called brilliant, he was called a threat, he was the winner of two Nobel Prizes. He was no doubt a complex individual. A quote from Dali Lhama may have said it best, "While we exist as human beings, we are like tourists on holiday. If we play havoc and cause disturbance, our visit is meaningless. If during our short stay, we live peacefully, help others, and at very least, refrain from harming or upsetting them, our visit is worth while. What is important is to see how we can best lead a meaningful everyday life, how we can bring about peace and harmony in our minds, how we can help contribute to society."  This is how Linus Pauling lived his life, a peacemaker through science. Linus Pauling passed away August 19, 1994