Linus Pauling was a pioneering American chemist and peace activist who revolutionized the field of chemistry. He made important discoveries about the nature of chemical bonding and molecular structure. Pauling received the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his work on chemical bonding. Later in life, he advocated for nuclear non-proliferation and conducted research on orthomolecular medicine and vitamin C.

3.  Linus Carl Pauling, the only
person to win two unshared
Nobel Prizes, revolutionized the
study of chemistry, helped found
the field of molecular
biology, and made important
advances in medical research.
 Linus Pauling was born 28
February 1901 in
Portland, Oregon, to a self-
taught druggist, Herman Henry
William Pauling, and Isabelle
(Belle) Pauling, the descendent
of a pioneer family.

4.  At age 16 Pauling dropped
out to enroll at Oregon
Agricultural College (now
Oregon State
University), intending to pursue
a degree in chemical
engineering.
Pauling quickly demonstrated that he knew more
about chemistry than many of his professors!!!

5.  By the time he graduated as a chemical
engineer in 1922 he had set his sights on
answering one of the most important questions
of chemistry: how did atoms bond together to
form molecules?. He enrolled in the first
graduate program that offered adequate
support, choosing a fledgling Pasadena
research school, the California Institute of
Technology, or Caltech

6.  Pauling earned his Ph.D. in 1925, and
then spent 15 months in Europe on a
Guggenheim Fellowship, intending to
study the basics of atomic structure.
Pauling returned to Caltech in 1927 as
a faculty member, and began to
apply quantum mechanics to
problems of chemical structure and
function. His 1939 work, The Nature of
the Chemical Bond, encapsulated his
ideas and quickly became a standard
work in the field.
At the age of 38, Pauling was a full professor and head of
the chemistry division at Caltech, and the father of four
children .

7.  During the 1930s he shifted his structural studies to large
biomolecules, especially proteins.
 In World War II, he patented an armor-piercing
shell, invented an oxygen meter for submarines, and was
offered the chance to head the chemistry program at the
top-secret Manhattan Project because it would mean
uprooting his family.
After the war, his feelings towards
weapons work changed
when, spurred by the pacifist
activism of his wife, Ava
Helen, Pauling joined other
scientists in calling for civilian
oversight and limitations on
nuclear testing.

8.  In 1949, Pauling's team
discovered the molecular basis
of sickle-cell anemia.
 In 1950s, determined the large-
scale structures of many
proteins, the so-called "alpha-
helix“.
 He also worked, though
unsuccessfully, on the structure
of DNA.

9.  His many achievements were
crowned with the awarding of
the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in
1954, "for his research into the
nature of the chemical bond
and its application to the
elucidation of the structure of
complex substances“.
His many achievements were crowned with
the awarding of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry
in 1954, "for his research into the nature of
the chemical bond and its application to the
elucidation of the structure of complex
substances“.

10. For over twenty years, between 1973
and 1994, Pauling's research focused
on a field he termed "orthomolecular
medicine".
He viewed vitamin C as one of the
most important of these molecules. In
1973 he co-founded a California
research institute devoted to the study
of the health effects of vitamin C and
other nutrients.
He conducted research there until his
death from cancer in 1994, at age 93.

12. The Alpha Helix Proteins sits
in front of the home where
Linus Pauling lived from
age 9 to 16 on SE
Hawthorne Blvd., Portland.
HIS OWN
STAMP