Linus Pauling
Born 1901 · Died 1994
From Portland, Oregon, United States · Nationality: United States
Linus Carl Pauling FRS (February 28, 1901 – August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. 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 and as of 2000, he was rated the 16th most important scientist in history. 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 (the others being Marie Curie, John Bardeen, Frederick Sanger and Karl Barry Sharpless). 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 Curie.
Pauling was one of the founders of the fields of quantum chemistry and molecular biology. His contributions to the theory of the chemical bond include the concept of orbital hybridization and the first accurate scale of electronegativities of the elements. Pauling also worked on the structures of biological molecules and showed the importance of the alpha helix and beta sheet in protein secondary structure. Pauling's approach combined methods and results from X-ray crystallography, molecular model building, and quantum chemistry.
Quotes
“If you want to have good ideas you must have many ideas. Most of them will be wrong, and what you have to learn is which ones to throw away.”
1990s “I have something that I call my Golden Rule. It goes something like this: “Do unto others twenty-five percent better than you expect them to do unto you.” … The twenty-five percent is for error.”
1990s “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.”
1990s
Quotes from Wikiquote (CC BY-SA 4.0).
Books by Linus Pauling in order
Books by Linus Pauling in the order they were published, from The Structure of Line Spectra (1930) to Healing Cancer (2004).
- 1The Structure of Line Spectra
The Structure of Line Spectra1930 - 2Introduction to Quantum Mechanics
Introduction to Quantum Mechanics1935 - 3Introduction to Quantum Mechanicswith Applications to Chemis
Introduction to Quantum Mechanicswith Applications to Chemistry1935 - 4The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecul
The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals1939 - 5General Chemistry
General Chemistry1947 - 6The Chemical Bond
The Chemical Bond1948 - 7College Chemistry
College Chemistry1950 - 8College Chemistry, an Introductory Textbook of General ChemiCollege Chemistry, an Introductory Textbook of General Chemistry1951
- 9Molecular Structure and Biological Specificity
Molecular Structure and Biological Specificity1957 - 10No More War!
No More War!1958 - 11The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecul
The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals: An Introduction to Mode1960 - 12Would Civilisation Survive a Nuclear War?Would Civilisation Survive a Nuclear War?1963
- 13The Architecture of Molecules
The Architecture of Molecules1964 - 14Vitamin C and the Common Cold
Vitamin C and the Common Cold1970 - 15Chemistry
Chemistry1975 - 16Scientists and ResponsibilityScientists and Responsibility1976
- 17Vitamin C, the Common Cold, & the Flu
Vitamin C, the Common Cold, & the Flu1976 - 18Vitamin C Common ColdVitamin C Common Cold1981
- 19How to Live Longer and Feel Better
How to Live Longer and Feel Better1986 - 20Linus Pauling
Linus Pauling1989 - 21A Lifelong Quest for Peace
A Lifelong Quest for Peace1992 - 22Vitamin C & Cancer
Vitamin C & Cancer2001 - 23Healing Cancer
Healing Cancer2004