American Scientist:

Linus Pauling

Main Life Accomplishments:

Linus Carl Pauling was an American scientist, 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.

Pauling was among the first scientists to work in the fields of quantum chemistry, molecular biology and orthomolecular medicine. He is one of a small number of individuals to have been awarded more than one Nobel Prize, one of only two people to receive them in different fields (the other was Marie Curie) and the only person in that group to have been awarded each of his prizes without having to share it with another recipient.[1]

Pauling was born and raised in Oregon. He attended Oregon Agricultural College and 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 English scientists 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.[2] 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.

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 (1949). 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.

 

Basics:

Born:  28 February 1901(1901-02-28) Portland, Oregon, USA

Died:  19 August 1994 (aged 93) Big Sur, California, USA

Nationality:  United States

Religion:  Atheist

Fields:  Chemist

Main Accomplishments:  Linus Pauling is known as the twentieth century’s greatest chemist for his work integrating the fields of chemistry and quantum physics. The description of the nature of the chemical bond was only one of Pauling’s many significant contributions to science, and his prolific career made him the only person to have won two unshared Nobel Prizes.
 

Chronology of Life Events:

1901

Born in Portland, Oregon.

1910

Linus's father, Herman Pauling, dies at the age of 33.
Linus, his mother, and his two sisters move to and manage a Portland boarding house.

1914

A friend of Linus Pauling shows him a chemical experiment, triggering Pauling's fascination with chemistry.

1922

Pauling, as a senior, teaches course in "Chemistry for Home Economics Majors" and he meets a student who will become his wife, Ava Helen Miller. Pauling graduates OAC with a B.S. in chemical engineering.
1923 Publishes his first scientific paper, on the crystal structure of molybdenite.

1933

Pauling is elected—the youngest member ever—to the National Academy of Sciences.

1948

Receives the Presidential Medal of Merit of the United States.
 

1949

Elected president of the American Chemical Society.
 

1956

Directs research interest to mental illness.
 

1958

Pauling and wife, Ava Helen Pauling, present to UN Secretary General Dag Hammarskjöld the petition to end nuclear-bomb testing with over 11,000 signatures from scientists around the world.
 

1966

Responding to a letter from vitamin C advocate Irwin Stone, Pauling redirects his research interest to vitamins, micronutrients, and orthomolecular medicine.
 

1970

Publishes Vitamin C and the Common Cold.
 

1973

Founds, with Arthur B. Robinson and Keene Dimick, the Institute of Orthomolecular Medicine as a non-profit health research organization, which becomes The Linus Pauling Institute of Science & Medicine.
 

1979

Publishes Cancer and Vitamin C with co-author Ewan Cameron.
 

1986

Publishes How to Live Longer and Feel Better.
 

1994

Pauling dies at his California ranch. He leaves more than 400,000 journals, scientific writings, papers, models, and other scientific memorabilia to his undergraduate alma mater, Oregon State University. The collection makes up one of the great scientific archives of the 20th century.

 

Early Life:

Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon as the first born child to Herman Henry William Pauling (1876–1910) and Lucy Isabelle "Belle" Darling (1881–1926). He was named "Linus Carl", in honor of Lucy's father, Linus, and Herman's father, Carl. Herman and Lucy—then 23 and 18 years old, respectively—had met at a dinner party in Condon. Six months later, the two got married.

Herman Pauling descended from South-German farmers, who had immigrated to a German settlement in Concordia, Missouri. Carl Pauling moved his family to California before settling in Oswego. There, he worked as an ironmonger at a foundry. After completing grammar school, Herman Pauling served as an apprentice to druggist. Upon completion of his services, he became a wholesale drug salesman.

Pauling's mother, Lucy, of Irish descent, was the daughter of Linus Wilson Darling, who had served as a teacher, farmer, surveyor, postmaster and lawyer at different points of his life. Linus Darling was orphaned at age 11 and apprenticed under a baker before becoming a schoolteacher. He fell in love with a young woman named Alice from Turner, Oregon, whom he eventually married. On July 17, 1888, Alice gave birth to the couple's fifth child, but he was stillborn. Less than a month later, she died, leaving Darling to take care of their four young daughters.

Linus Pauling spent his first year living in a one-room apartment with his parents in Portland. In 1902, after his sister Pauline was born, Pauling's parents decided to move out of the city. They were crowded in their apartment, but couldn't afford more spacious living quarters in Portland. Lucy stayed with her husband's parents in Oswego, while Herman searched for new housing. Herman brought the family to Salem, where he took up a job as a traveling salesman for the Skidmore Drug Company. Within a year of Lucile's birth in 1904, Herman Pauling moved his family to Oswego, where he opened his own drugstore.[10] The business climate in Oswego was poor, so he moved his family to Condon in 1905.

In 1909, Pauling's grandfather, Linus, divorced his second wife and married a young schoolteacher, almost the same age as his daughter Lucy. A few months later, he died of a heart attack, brought on by complications from nephritis. Meanwhile, Herman Pauling was suffering from poor health and had regular sharp pains in his abdomen. Lucy's sister, Abbie, saw that Herman was dying and immediately called the family physician. The doctor gave Herman a sedative to reduce the pain, but it only offered temporary relief. His health worsened in the coming months and finally died of a perforated ulcer on June 11, 1910, leaving Lucy to care for Linus, Lucile and Pauline.

Linus was a voracious reader as a child, and at one point his father wrote a letter to The Oregonian inviting suggestions of additional books to occupy his time. Pauling first planned to become a chemist after being amazed by experiments conducted with a small chemistry lab kit by his friend, Lloyd A. Jeffress. In high school, Pauling continued to conduct chemistry experiments, borrowing much of the equipment and material from an abandoned steel plant. With an older friend, Lloyd Simon, Pauling set up Palmon Laboratories. Operating from Simon's basement, the two young adults approached local dairies to offer their services in performing butterfat samplings at cheap prices. Dairymen were wary of trusting two young boys with the task, and as such, the business ended as a failure.

By the fall of 1916, Pauling was a 15-year-old high school senior and had enough credits to enter Oregon Agricultural College (OAC, now known as Oregon State University) in Corvallis. However, he did not have credit for two required American history courses that would satisfy his requirement to earn a high school diploma. He asked the school principal if he could take these courses concurrently during the spring semester. The principal denied his request, and Pauling decided to leave the school in June without a diploma. His high school, Washington High School in Portland, awarded him the diploma 45 years later, after he had won two Nobel Prizes. During the summer, Pauling worked part-time at a grocery store, earning eight dollars a week. His mother set him up with an interview with a Mr. Schwietzerhoff, the owner of a number of manufacturing plants in Portland. Pauling was hired as an apprentice machinist with a salary of 40 dollars a month. Pauling excelled at his job, and saw his salary increase to 50 dollars a month after being on the job for only a month. In his spare time, he set up a photography lab with two friends and found business from a local photography company. He hoped that the business would earn him enough money to pay for his future college expenses. Pauling received a letter of admission from OAC in September 1917 and immediately gave notice to his boss and told his mother of his plans.
 

Wife Background:

Pauling married Ava Helen Miller of Beaver Creek, Oregon, in 1923. She is of English-Scottish and German descent. They have four children, Linus (Carl) Jr. (1925), Peter Jeffress (1931), Linda Helen (1932) and Edward Crellin (1937), and thirteen grandchildren.

 

Father Background:

Herman Henry William Pauling, who, though born in Missouri, was of German descent, and his wife, Lucy Isabelle Darling, born in Oregon of English-Scottish ancestry.

 

Herman Pauling died in 1910, when Linus was nine. Linus did many odd jobs to help support his mother and sisters after his father died. He delivered milk, washed dishes, and worked in a machine shop. During high school Pauling pursued his interest in chemistry, performing experiments using material he "borrowed" from an abandoned metal company, where his grandfather was a security guard.

 

Mother Background:

Pauling's mother, Lucy, of Irish descent, was the daughter of Linus Wilson Darling, who had served as a teacher, farmer, surveyor, postmaster and lawyer at different points of his life. Linus Darling was orphaned at age 11 and apprenticed under a baker before becoming a schoolteacher. He fell in love with a young woman named Alice from Turner, Oregon, whom he eventually married. On July 17, 1888, Alice gave birth to the couple's fifth child, but he was stillborn. Less than a month later, she died, leaving Darling to take care of their four young daughters.

 
 
SuperAttainer

ANALYSIS SECTION:

 
 
1. Early Success
 

When did the SuperAttainer first display ability that was greatly above average and what were his accomplishments? 
 

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2. Contrarian

 
What actions did the SuperAttainer take that demonstrated a mindset that was very different from those around him?
 

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3. Conceited
 
What are the actions and documented statements that exhibit an elevated sense of self importance of the SuperAttainer? 
 
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4. Hard-Knocked 
 
During what events did the SuperAttainer experience personal misery and severe anxiety?
  

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5. Loner
 
Is there evidence of the SuperAttainer being comfortable spending time apart from others? 
 

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6. Mentored & Motivated
 
Who was vital to developing the SuperAttainer and guiding his career and what significant actions were taken?
 

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7. Discontent
 
What evidence is there that the SuperAttainer was unsatisfied with even great personal accomplishment?
 

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8. Promoted
 
What actions or events were responsible for publicizing the tremendous achievements and abilities of the SuperAttainer?
 

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Overall Score:

x out of 8 = xx% 

PASS

SuperAttainer Type:

Describe the factors in the SuperAttainer’s background to indicate whether he is a Come-From-Nothing or Aristocratic type..

Conclusion:

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