Linus Pauling: Scientist and Peacemaker | 
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• A Commemoration To A Man, Scientist, And Peace Worker 06 October, 2003
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This is a centenary biography that commemorates the hundredth birthday of Dr. Linus Carl Pauling (February 1901 to August 1994). He was the only person to win two unshared Nobel Prizes.
This book has a number of good features:
(1) THE EDITORS' HONESTY. This slim book, as the editors state in the preface, does not do "complete justice to Linus Pauling's enormous life work" but is intended to give readers an "intriguing taste of his interests and accomplishments."
(2) THE GOOD AND BAD. Be aware that this book not only has contributions from Pauling's friends, colleagues, and former students but also has contributions from his detractors and those who thought he was over-stepping his scientific boundaries.
(3) ARTICLES. This is not your typical narrative biography! It is divided into four parts and the first three parts is a series of articles. (I use the word "article" loosely to mean an essay, a chronology, diary excerpts, interview transcript, public speech transcript, letter, Nobel lecture transcript, book excerpt, journal excerpt, or television transcript.)
Articles are written in the first person by Pauling himself or in the third person by others. Before each article is a small italicized paragraph written by the editors. The purpose of this is to put each article into proper context with respect to time, place, and importance.
(4) THE BOOK'S STRUCTURE. This book has four parts titled as follows:
(i) "The Man." It presents the personal side and overall personality of Pauling. It consists of nine articles, five of which were written by Pauling at various times in his life. Note that Pauling had a wife named Ava Helen and four children.
(ii) "The Science." It details the scientific genius of Pauling. It consists of twelve articles, six written by Pauling. These science articles are not difficult to follow. Pauling won the 1954 Nobel Prize in chemistry. Specifically he won it "for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances."
(iii) "The Peace Work." It discusses Pauling's anti-nuclear peace work. It consists of six articles, all of them written by Pauling. Pauling won the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize "for his efforts to end open-air testing of nuclear weapons."
(iv) "Facets." It gives us various brief snippets of Pauling in the form of historical reminiscences or short anecdotes not only written by Pauling but by others (such as family members, friends, and colleagues). There are over forty of these that were written or said during his lifetime or after his death.
(5) PICTURES. Over eighty are peppered throughout the book. When I say pictures, I mean black-and-white photographs; sketches; and reproduced, readable notes, manuscripts, letters, and textbook covers. There's even a reproduction of the Paulings' famous and controversial nuclear weapon's petition!
(6) MARGINALIA. In the margins of the book, there are short anecdotes (shorter than those mentioned in the "Facets" section above). These are based on taped interviews with colleagues and contemporaries. There are over thirty of these scattered throughout the book.
(7) BIBLIOGRAPHY. Finally there is a useful selected bibliography. It consists of a significant list of articles written by Pauling and important books written by him. (My favorite book written by him is entitled "How to Live Longer and Feel Better" (1986).) There is also a list of books and articles written about Pauling.
One of my favorite articles was in the science part. This article details the race to find the structure of DNA. According to Pauling, Dr. Rosalind Franklin's scientific work and X-ray photographs (which he never had access too) were the key that unlocked DNA's double helix structure.
In conclusion, if you want a multi-dimensional portrait of a two-time Nobel Prize winner who was the recipient of numerous awards and medals and, as well, for those who want a unique reading experience where you can form your OWN picture of this brilliant man, then peruse this fascinating book.
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- Reviewed by customer ID: A2VP7JOT3K7PFM
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