The Legacy of Linus Pauling
Thomas Hager, Director of Communication at the University of Oregon, has honored the twice Nobel laureate, Linus Pauling, with his biography, Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling , (Simon&Shuster, 1995) In July, 1996, Susan Roth, Peace Process 2001 team member, interviewed Tom Hager about the legacy of Linus Pauling who died in 1994 at the age of 93. The Linus Pauling Institute is now located at Oregon State University in Corvallis and is one of the largest collection of scientific papers in the U.S. today.
Q: What do you think is important for my generation to know about Linus Pauling?
A: I think one of the most important things--which is something that Linus Pauling himself once said--is "Young people should always listen to their elders, but should not necessarily believe what they say." He made those remarks when he won the Nobel Prize and was in Stockholm speaking to a student group. And he gave an impromptu set of remarks which made the students applaud like crazy! Having to do with the fact that just because someone seems old and wise doesn't mean that you should always believe them. Linus was not a believer in trusting authority just because they were authorities, but (he) always believed in learning everything you could about an issue yourself and then making up your own mind. And that--it seems to me--is valuable for people of all ages.
Q: Why did Linus Pauling win the Nobel Peace Prize?
A: Pauling won the Peace Prize because he tried to get the world to stop testing bombs in the atmosphere--because back in the 1950's, it was very common to explode hydrogen bombs and atomic bombs in the open atmosphere. The explosion would soak up huge amounts of dirt from the soil and make it radioactive. Then it would be pushed high in the atmosphere where it would circle the globe and slowly come down in the form of what became "fallout." Nuclear fallout, Linus Pauling believed, was dangerous to human beings and he spent 20 years convincing the world that nuclear fallout was dangerous. He finally succeeded and there was a ban on atmospheric testing that was signed by President Kennedy in 1963. On the day the ban was announced, the Nobel Committee announced that Linus Pauling won the Peace Prize.
Q: Why did he win the Chemistry Prize?
A: Pauling won his Nobel Prize in chemistry--it was an unusual prize, because usually Nobel Prizes were given for a single discovery--but in Paulings's case, the Noble Committee couldn't come up with a single thing, because he had done so many things! So, they awarded him the Chemistry Prize for coming up with a whole theory of how atoms hold together into molecules and how molecules built in different ways depending on the forces that hold them together. So, he outlined everything to the very basic forces to the longterm, larger forces that determine how a molecule is shaped. And what he showed everyone was that how a molecule is shaped determines what it does--even up to the molecules no one thought people could be figured out because they were so huge. He figured out ways of telling how they were built. Things like proteins, for example, which are very important to the human body.
Q: What years did he win those two Nobel Prizes?
A: He won the Chemistry Prize in 1954 and he won the Peace Prize--which was actually announced in 1963--but it was actually given for the year 1962. They hadn't awarded a Prize in 1962--and in 1963, when the test ban was signed, they awarded him (sort of) backwards.
Q: When did you decide to write your book?
A: I grew up here in Oregon and studied science at Portland State University and Health Science University in Portland. So, I was very interested in science and in Oregon. Linus Pauling was born and raised in Oregon and didn't leave the state until he was 20 years old. And he is, I think--and most people will agree--the most significant American scientist of this century--the most important American scientist of the 20th century. So, knowing that he grew up in Oregon, I got interested in him. I was at a meeting and had a chance to meet him. He charmed me like he charmed many people. He was a wonderful person--outgoing and knew how to talk to people--make them feel at ease. He was very friendly. So, I became a huge fan of his! So, I did a story about him for The Oregonian newspaper in Portland, focusing on his early years, because not many people knew about that. Then we stayed in touch with each other and our relationship eventually worked into the book.
Linus was very concerned about what people thought about him. He was unusual as a scientist especially, because most scientists are inward turning--and not very outgoing--they are often "nerdy" people. Linus Pauling was a very outgoing and public-minded person and always interested in what people thought about him and what he was doing. He was a great humanitarian and he wanted to lessen the suffering in the world the best he could--he thought that was his purpose in life. So, he wanted a good biography to be out there and, luckily, I got the chance to work on it. The book doesn't make him look like a saint though--he was a human being and he had character flaws as well as great strengths--a phenomenal human being.
Q: Would you comment further about his legacy, the great lessons that he taught?
A: I mentioned his belief about being skeptical about authority, but the second thing, I think, that is vital about Pauling is the importance of perseverance. If you are a believer in a cause that you know is good--and that is good for humanity--you have to stick with it for very long periods of time before success will happen. And Pauling was one of the few public figures in the 1950's--for a period of 15 years--maybe 20 years--he was one of the few public figures that continued to speak out against US government policy. It caused him alot of trouble--his passport was revoked, his scientific grants were revoked, he lost alot of income, he was vilified by the press, he lost friends, he couldn't travel. But he stuck to his guns for 15-20 years and he saw success at the end of it. But it takes that kind of perseverance and almost no one in the United States of any stature had that kind of perseverance during that time. And that's another reason why Pauling is so important.
Q: What do you think about Peace Process 2001?
A: Let me answer in the way I think Linus Pauling would have answered: Any work at the grassroots level for peace is worthwhile work. I'm sure that he would wish you all great, good fortune in your efforts. And using the Internet is a wonderful way to get a message out and to connect people of a like mind and to build a consensus for a viewpoint. I think that he would have applauded that!
Back to the present page