When it was published in 1939, The Nature of the Chemical Bond and the Structure of Molecules and Crystals: An Introduction to Modern Structural Chemistry became an instant classic. It was targeted to graduate-level chemistry students for use as a text in upper-division courses, but its impact went far beyond the classroom. The book would change the way scientists around the world thought about chemistry. For the first time, the science was presented as the natural result of quantum mechanics operating at the level of the chemical bond. Observable chemical properties such as melting point, boiling point and bond strength resulted from molecular structure; molecular structure resulted from the bonds that held the atoms in position; and the bonds resulted from the quantum nature of the atom (as understood by physicists).

The book also introduced chemists to the importance of X-ray crystallography as an important tools for determining structure. Before the book’s publication, few chemists had taken notice of the arcane art of crystallography; after its publication no chemist could ignore its value.