Discoveries of Linus Pauling

Linus Pauling, who lived from 1901 to 1994, was a chemist of tremendous influence, who won the Nobel Prize in 1954. The Prize Committee congratulated him for his "research into the nature of the chemical bond ... and its application to the elucidation of complex substances."

Quantum Mechanics

• Pauling described the chemical bonds between atoms in quantum mechanical terms in a series of papers published in the 1920s and 1930s, thereby uniting the sciences of physics and chemistry. This work culminated in a book on "The Nature of the Chemical Bond," published in 1939.

  This book "would change the way scientists around the world thought about chemistry," according to a narrative on the website of Oregon State University. It also vividly persuaded chemists of the significance of X-ray crystallography.

Sickle Cell Anemia

• In 1949, Pauling and associates published an article on sickle cell anemia, describing it as a deficiency in the hemoglobin within the red blood cells. This was the first time any disease or medical condition was traced to a specific malfunction at the molecular level.

The Structure of DNA

• Although the double helix model for deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) was the work of James Watson and Francis Crick, many other scientists were key in making it possible for Watson and Crick to set this out in their famous 1953 publication. Linus Pauling was among the many biochemists who played supporting roles.