Linus Pauling Accomplishments

Linus Pauling

Linus Pauling was a very important scientist who over seven decades of his life made many discoveries in multiple fields of science including: physical, structural, analytical, inorganic, organic chemistry, and biochemistry. He was born in the 20th century and contributed greatly to science field during this time. He is known for “Pauling’s Rules” and other inventions he is responsible for. He would also go on to write his own books detailing some of his work, he made very diverse discoveries and discovered many things in many different fields; which is very unique for a scientist. Pauling was an activist and was very involved and fought for causes he thought were important. Apart from all these accomplishments he is also the

Pauling was born on February 28, 1901. His birthplace was in Portland Oregon. His father, Herman, was a pharmacist, and his mother, Lucy. Not long after Pauling’s birth, his family moved to the nearby farming town of Condon. Herman died of an ulcer and the family had to return back to Portland, where they lived in poverty. Because of his family’s financial difficulties, Linus had to work many jobs to help make enough money for his family to get by and he ultimately had to drop out of high school. However Pauling was able to save enough money to attend the Oregon Agricultural College, where he became very interested in chemistry, mathematics and physics. He was such an intelligent student that he took time off from his own education to teach an introductory chemistry course at the institution. He would become known as a gifted, charismatic speaker who was able to make even the most advanced chemistry concepts interesting, his students loved him; and even those who knew nothing about chemistry thought that his teachings were interesting when taught by him. Pauling met and eventually marry one of his

Linus was very interested in the "behavior" of molecules this led him from physical chemistry to biological chemistry, he focused on the architecture of molecules and their functioning, especially in the human body. He started working with proteins and their main part, the amino acids, He studied both their abnormalities and their normalities, he even created abnormalities so he could study the effects. From his creation of synthetic antibodies came the development of a substitute for blood plasma. In 1950 he constructed the first model of a protein molecule, this discovery was a way for people to understand the living cell. Linus also studied and published papers on the effects of certain blood cell abnormalities, and the relationship between molecular abnormality and heredity. So we see that not only was his teachings and inventions fundamental to the field of chemistry, but also that of biology. Though Pauling was typically not involved in political matters and preferred to keep his views to himself, during WWII, Pauling's focus on his work faded and he took time to become a very involved activist. He took a public stance against war and the use of nuclear weapons while advocating for international diplomacy through the United Nations. He would later be awarded the Nobel Peace Prize for his crusade against nuclear-weapons testing. In his later years, Pauling became a