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Linus Pauling was the most important chemist, and arguably the most important American scientist, of the 20th century. From his description of the chemical bond to his discovery of the cause of sickle-cell anemia and his groundbreaking work with vitamin C, his work stretched the boundaries of chemistry, physics, biology, immunology, and more. Acclaimed science writer Tom Hager brings Pauling's wide range of scientific accomplishments vividly to life while also shedding light on Pauling's activities outside the scientific realm. He shows how Pauling used his popularity to advance political causes, particularly his opposition to the spread of nuclear weapons during the 1950s. Despite the troubles his political activism caused him, he remained unmoved in his dedication to making the world a safer place. His perseverance was rewarded with a Nobel Peace Prize in 1963, which along with his 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, made him the only person in history to win two unshared Nobels.
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Linus Pauling And the Chemistry of Life Owen Gingerich General Editor Linus Pauling And the Chemistry of Life Tom Hager Oxford University Press New York • Oxford Dedicated with love to Jackson, Zone, Elizabeth and, always, to Lauren Oxford University Press Oxford New York Athens Auckland Bangkok Bogota Bombay Buenos Aires Calcutta Cape Town Dar es Salaam Delhi Florence Hong Kong Istanbul Karachi Kuala Lumpur Madras Madrid Melbourne Mexico City Nairobi Paris Singapore Taipei Tokyo Toronto Warsaw and associated companies in Berlin Ibadan Copyright © 1998 by Tom Hager Published by Oxford University Press, Inc. 198 Madison Avenue, New York, New York 10016 www.oup-usa.org Oxford is a registered trademark of Oxford University 1 Press AH rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of Oxford University- Press. Design: Design Oasis Layout: Leonard Levitsky Picture research: Lisa Kirchner Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Hager, Tom. Linus Pauling and the chemistry of life / Tom Hager p. cm. — (Oxford portraits in science) Includes bibliographic references and index. ISBN 0-19-510853-1 (library ed.); 0-19-513972-0 (paperback) 1. Pauling, Linus, 1901—1994—-Juvenile literature. 2. Biochemists—United States—Biography—-Juvenile literature. 3. Chemists—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. 4. Social reformers—United States—Biography—Juvenile literature. [1. Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994. 2. Chemists.] I. Title. II. Series. QP511.8.P37H34 1998 540'0.92—dc21 [B] 97-43403 CIP 9876543 Printed in the United States of America on acid-free paper Cover Linus Pauling in the early 1970s; Inset: Linus Pauling with a model of a molecule in his Caltech classroom. Frontispiece: Linus Pauling in his Caltech classroom. Contents Introduction Chapter I. 8 The Boy Professor Sidebar What Holds Molecules Together? Chapter 2. Witness to Revolution Sidebar: Bohr's Atom Chapter 3. 10 23 24 38 The Bond 44 Sidebar: The Semiempiricist 53 Chapter 4. A Scientist at War 62 Sidebar: The Fabric and the Chain 70 Chapter 5. The Triple Helix Sidebar: The Molecule of Life Chapter 6. 78 94 The Price of Peace 100 Sidebar: The Science of Free Speech 105 Chapter 7. Vitamin C 116 Sidebar: Vitamin C Mutants 122 Chronology I 34 Further Reading 138 Index 141 This page intentionally left blank