Linus Pauling
1901–1994, Portland, Oregon, United States, Big Sur, California, United States
American quantum chemist who reshaped the modern understanding of chemical bonds using quantum mechanics. He received the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize.
Linus Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon, and became one of the most influential chemists of the twentieth century. At Caltech he applied quantum mechanics to explain molecular structure and the nature of the chemical bond. His 1939 book The Nature of the Chemical Bond synthesized and developed ideas about covalent bonding, resonance, electronegativity, and molecular geometry, exerting a lasting influence on chemistry and physical chemistry.
Pauling received the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to elucidating the structure of complex substances. He later campaigned against nuclear weapons testing; his peace activism earned him the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize. He is the only person to have received two unshared Nobel Prizes and the first to receive Nobel Prizes in two different fields.
Nobel-winning work
Pauling won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry 'for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances'. His valence-bond papers (1928–1935), the concept of orbital hybridization and the 1939 book 'The Nature of the Chemical Bond' explained bond energies, resonance and electronegativity, and led to the α-helix and β-sheet models of protein structure (1951).
In 1962 he received the Nobel Peace Prize (awarded 1963) for his campaign against nuclear weapons testing — his 1957 petition signed by thousands of scientists helped bring about the 1963 Partial Test Ban Treaty. He is the only person with two unshared Nobel Prizes.
Workplaces: California Institute of Technology (Caltech), Stanford University
United States