Letter from Linus Pauling to Victor Rothschild. May 22, 1953. Page 1  Larger Images / More Information. 1 p.  View Transcript

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Activity Listings

• AHP writes cheque to: Bullock's Downtown amount: $19.92 [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #4.022, Folder #1]
• AHP writes cheque to: Bullock's Pasadena amount: $185.11 [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #4.022, Folder #1]
• Letter from BW to Mr. Victor A. Salkind RE: writes that LP has asked her to thank him for the collection of scientific papers of Prof. Bergmann's. [Letter from Mr. Salkind to LP May 18, 1953] [Filed under LP Correspondence: Box #379, Folder #1].
• Letter from Hans Kuhn of Physikalisch-chemisches Institut der Universitat Marburg, to LP RE: Is glad to hear that LP will be in Germany this summer. The president of the chemical society and the Dean of the Philosophy faculty invite him to give a lecture then, and Mr. Kuhn invites him to be a guest in their home. Is interested in LP's article describing a new theory on ferromagnetism. Goes on to discuss the topic. Asks for LP's comments on this discussion.
• Letter from LP to Dr. D.P. Riley. [Filed under LP Science, Box 9.001, Folder 1.11]

  21 May 1953

  Dr. D.P. Riley

  The Royal Institution

  21 Albemerle Street

  London, W. 1

  England

  Dear Riley:

  I am pleased to have your two letters. I have written to Queen’s University in connection with your application for the Chowh Research Professorship.

  I shall be pleased to provide a reference for you for the Intermediate Fellowship in Cancer Research, when the Cancer Campaign people get in touch with me. They have not yet done so.

  I think that the U.S.C. matter has turned out the way it should, considering their financial situation.

  I am very glad to know about your conclusions about α1 and α2, and I look forward to seeing your published paper. I am also very much interested to learn about the state of the histone in calf thymis nucleoprotein. I judge that you mean that the histone is present as an α helix.

  I am also glad to learn that you have some good data on various sorts of nucleic acids. Dr. Rich here had been considering whether he should go ahead with a study of this sort – you know that we have been interested in it. I myself feel that there may well be a large number of nucleic acid structures.

  Corey and I are glad to give you permission to reproduce our drawing of the α helix.

  Things are going along well here. I am getting started on a new attack on the problem of the structure of collagen. I think

  Dr. Riley Page 2 21/5/53

  that it may be that our proposed structure is completely wrong. At any rate, we are hoping to make a thorough analysis of the situation.

  With best regards, I am

  Sincerely yours,

  Linus Pauling: W

• Letter from LP to Dr. Henry B. Hass RE: in response to Dr. Hass' request in his last letter, LP attempts to describe Dr. Arthur F. Coca and his research in the field of allergies. LP does not feel a grant would be worthwhile if Dr. Coca were to perform the research on his own, due to his old age and rigid nature. However, it might to useful if someone else were to use the grant to check up on Dr. Coca's ideas. [Letter from Dr. Hass to LP April 14, 1953, letter of response from Dr. Hass to LP May 27, 1953] [Filed under H: Correspondence 1953, Box #166, Folder #4]
• Letter from LP to Dr. M. Simonetta RE: writes to express his pleasure in hearing that Dr. Simonetta was awarded the fellowship. Mentions his visit to Europe for the Solvay Congress and that Prof. Bezzi is visiting Pasadena. [Note from Dr. Simonetta to LP May 14, 1953] [Filed under LP Correspondence: Box #379, Folder #1].
• Letter from LP to Dr. Reuben Wood RE: in response to his letter, discusses the matter of who they should consider hiring for two positions in their dept. at George Washington U. Is glad he liked the Division report of 1952 for Caltech. [Letter from Dr. Wood to LP May 2, 1953].
• Letter from LP to Mr. Brij Lal Sawhney RE: is having the Dean of the Graduate Studies of Caltech send him application forms for graduate assistantships in chemistry in light of his interest in getting research training in an American Institution. [Filed under LP Correspondence: Box #379, Folder #1]
• Letter from LP to Prof. Ernst D. Bergmann RE: Writes that he is excited to learn of Prof. Bergmann's appointment as Professor of Organic Chemistry at the Hebrew University in Israel, and appreciates the sent collection of papers. [Letter from Prof. Bergmann to LP May 3, 1953] [Filed under B: Correspondence 1953, Box #37, Folder #20]
• Letter from LP to Prof. F. J. Toole RE: Mentions his recent travel to Europe and his attendance of the Solvay Congress. Mentions Prof. Toole's alkaloid. Mentions his children. [Letter from Prof. F. J. Toole to LP April 13, 1953, letter from Prof. Toole to LP May 25, 1953] [Filed under LP Correspondence: Box #407, Folder #8].
• Letter from LP to Queen's University. [Filed under LP Science, Box 9.001, Folder 1.11]

  21 May 1953

  Principal, Queen’s University

  Kingston

  Ontario, Canada

  Dear Sir:

  Dr. Dennis P. Riley, of the Royal Institution, has written me that he has made application for the Chowh Research Professorship of Chemistry in Queen’s University. Although he has not asked me to write a reference for him, I have decided to write to you, in the hope that my knowledge about his work may be useful to you in making a decision.

  I have been deeply interested in the work that Dr. Riley and his collaborators have been carrying out during recent years. It is evident that he has a thoroughly sound training in physical chemistry, and that he is a man of unusual originality and effectiveness. He has a thorough understanding of modern methods of investigating the structure of large molecules, including the several physical chemical techniques and the x-ray diffraction techniques.

  I consider the work that he has carried out during the last two years, on the determination of the principal ways of folding of polypeptide chains in the globular proteins through the determination of radical distribution functions to be of the greatest importance. Dr. Riley and his collaborator, Dr. Arndt, have shown that the radial distribution method is far more powerful than it had been expected to be, and that it can be used to distinguish between the right-handed α helix and the left-handed α helix of L-amino-acid polypeptide chains. This work has been characterized not only by boldness but also by originality. Similar originality is evident in his work on the determination of the shape of nucleic acid molecules in solution by the analysis of the x-ray diffraction pattern.

  I had the pleasure of spending a day with Dr. Riley in London last month, and also of talking with him several times

  Principal, Queen’s University, Page 2 21/5/53

  in the summer of 1952. He has impressed me as having a fine personality. I am confident that he would be an unusually successful lecturer, and in general I feel that I can recommend him strongly for the Chowh Research Professorship.

  Sincerely yours,

  Linus Pauling:W

• Letter from LP to Sister Marie Augustine RE: writes in response to Sister Augustine's enquiry about his research with Professor Niemann on the configuration of enzyme molecules by the study of the action of inhibitors. Writes that Dr. Niemann has published his results in the Journal of the American Chemical Society. Is interested in her work with organic mercurials. [Letter from Sister Marie Augustine to LP April 14, 1953, note from Sister Marie Augustine to LP June 10, 1953] [Filed under M: Correspondence 1953, Box #256, Folder #4]
• Letter from LP to Theodore McClintock, W.H. Freeman and Company, RE: Writes that McClintock was right about his editing concerns regarding the second edition of General Chemistry. Also discusses the inclusion of an appendix. [In reply to May 14, 1953 letter from McClintock to LP]. [Filed under LP Books: Box 1953b, Folder 1953b.1].
• Letter from Lars Gunnar Sillen to LP, RE: The International Congress of Pure and Applied Chemistry would like to have LP act as Honorary Chairman of the morning and afternoon sessions. If LP accepts Sillen will soon send page-proofs of the abstracts of all papers to be given during LP’s session. [LP’s reply May 28, 1953] [Filed under LP Speeches: (Speeches by Linus Pauling, 1953), Box 1953s, Folder 1953s.12]
• Letter from Sister Mary Martinette of Munderlein College to LP RE: writes to ask LP if she may obtain use of the Institute's Chemistry Library during June and July when she intends to be in Pasadena. [Letter of response from LP to Sister Mary Martinette May 26, 1953] [Filed under M: Correspondence 1953, Box #256, Folder #4]
• Letter from Walter Kirner, National Science Foundation, to LP RE: asks LP to provide the names of promising young research scientists who are engaged in teaching careers at smaller colleges or universities without extensive research facilities. [Filed under LP Science: 14.029, Folder 29.2]
• Letter from [?] to LP RE: Committee on Graduate Student meeting minutes from May 20, 1953. Notes that Pauling was absent. Main discussion was about maintaining sufficient differences in graduate major and minor studies. [Filed under: LP Biographical, Box 1.018, Folder 18.2]
• Memo from A. H. Walter to LP RE: Encloses a letter from the ARDC in reply to an inquiry for support of the program on "The Structure of Metals and Intermetallic Compounds." Asks LP whether or not an official letter withdrawing the proposal from the ARDC should be written. This is recommended if an extension is requested from the ONR [Filed under LP Science: Box 14.032, Folder 32.2]