Major Events

  • In February, Pauling receives a letter from Mrs. Ruth B. Shipley of the Passport Division of the Department of State, informing him that his request for a passport is being denied because "the Department is of the opinion that your proposed travel would not be in the best interests of the United States." Pauling had applied for a passport in January in order to visit England to take part in a meeting on the structure of proteins to be held on May 1. A debate was going on about whether his alpha helix really could be used to explain the structure of such proteins as alpha keratin, and the Royal Society was organizing a symposium to help resolve the differences about this important discovery.
  • The discovery by Pauling and Richard E. Marsh on the structure of chlorine hydrate opens a new chapter in the crystallography of water.
  • Throughout the summer, Pauling’s passport difficulties are constantly in the news. Senator Wayne Morse of Oregon publicly condemns the action of the State Department, as does Albert Einstein. Pauling makes a few more attempts to get a reversal, and on the "fourth try," he gets a "limited passport," good until October 1 for travel to England and France.
  • During July and August, Linus and Ava Helen Pauling make a six-week trip to France and England. In Paris, he attends the second International Congress of Biochemistry, and in England, he attends a meeting of the Faraday Society on the physical chemistry of proteins.
  • In the fall, he supports Adlai Stevenson, who is running on the Democratic ticket against the Republican, Dwight D. Eisenhower, who is elected president.
  • In the late fall, Pauling works out a structure for the nucleic acids. He submits his triple helix to PNAS on December 31 (it is published in February 1953).
Chronology by Robert Paradowski.

Travel

 Portland, OR (2)
 Vancouver, BC (5)
 Columbia, MO (2)
 Mt. Vernon, IA 
 New York, NY (2)
 Washington, DC (3)
 Philadelphia, PA (4)
 Washington, DC (3)
 Washington, DC (2)
 Cleveland, OH (3)
 New York, NY (2)
 London 
 Paris (17)
 London (30)
 Toronto (7)
 Cincinnati, OH (4)
 Washington, DC 
 Poughkeepsie, NY (2)
 Boston, MA (3)
See the Paulings' activities in January 1952
See the Paulings' activities in January 1952

Snapshot

Linus Pauling speaking in Tampa, Florida. Picture. 1950s
Linus Pauling speaking in Tampa, Florida. 1950s. Larger Image / More Information

Statistics

  • 2666 activity listings
  • 50 scanned documents
  • 81 full-text transcripts

Activity Listings - 1952 (No Date)