Linus Pauling (28 February 1901-19 August 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, peace activist, author, and educator who won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962.
Biography[]
Linus Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon in 1901, and he graduated from Oregon State University in 1922 with a degree in chemical engineering. In 1926, he was awarded a Guggenheim Fellowship to travel to Europe, studying quantum mechanics and other fields of physics. He became one of the founders of quantum chemistry and molecular biology, creating the concepts of orbital hybridization and electronegativities. His discoveries about the helix structure of DNA inspired James D. Watson, Francis Crick, and Rosalind Franklin to work on discovering DNA's full structure; while Pauling initially believed that it was a triple helix, the trio discovered that it was, in fact, a double helix. In his later years, Pauling promoted nuclear disarmament, orthomolecular medicine, megavitamin therapy, and dietary supplements. He won the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1954 for his scientific research and the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for his peace activism.