Born in Portland, Oregon on 28 February 1901. Died on 19 August 1994. Education: B.S., Chemical Engineering, Oregon State College (1922), Ph.D., Physical Chemistry and Mathematical Physics, California Institute of Technology (1925). Employment: 1925-1926 National Research Council; 1926-1927 Universities of Münich, Zürich, and Copenhagen; 1922-1969 California Institute of Technology; 1969- Stanford University; 1973-1979 Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine.
American chemist and pacifist whose research focused on quantum mechanics and molecular structures. Pauling won the Nobel Prize for Chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Prize for Peace in 1962.
Chemist, educator.
Best known as a two-time recipient of the Nobel Prize -- for chemistry in 1954 and for peace in 1962 -- Linus Pauling was also adamantly opposed to the proliferation of nuclear weapons and nuclear testing. Ava Helen Pauling (d. 1981) was a world-traveling spokeswoman for the cause of peace. She was a member of Women's International Strike for Peace and the Women's International League for Peace and Freedom. Together they spearheaded the Appeal to Stop the Spread of Nuclear Weapons, 1961.
Linus Pauling was a notable American chemist and activist, one of the best-known scientists of his day. Educated in Oregon and California, he later studied with some of the most respected scientists in Europe. He made significant contributions to the study of molecular structure by applying theories of quantum mechanics; thereafter, his wide-ranging scientific explorations included such diverse fields as chemistry, molecular biology, immunology, genetic diseases, and metallurgy. He wrote numerous books and articles on both scientific and political themes, and became widely known. He was awarded the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954. His social and political views about nuclear weapons were sometimes controversial, but culminated in the Nobel Peace Prize in 1963. He died in 1994.