Letter from Linus Pauling to George R. Harrison. June 13, 1955. Page 1  Larger Images / More Information. 1 p.  View Transcript

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Activity Listings

• Check from AHP to Athenaeum for $5.47. [Filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Bank Statements and Canceled Checks, December 1954-February 1956), Box #4.023, Folder #23.1]
• Check from AHP to National Audubon Society for $8.00. [Filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Bank Statements and Canceled Checks, December 1954-February 1956), Box #4.023, Folder #23.1]
• Check from AHP to Pacific Telephone and Telegraph for $9.76. [Filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Bank Statements and Canceled Checks, December 1954-February 1956), Box #4.023, Folder #23.1]
• Check from AHP to Poppy Cleaners and Dryers for $32.34. [Filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Bank Statements and Canceled Checks, December 1954-February 1956), Box #4.023, Folder #23.1]
• Check from LP to Bennett Travel Agency for $239.42. [Filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Bank Statements and Canceled Checks, December 1954-February 1956), Box #4.023, Folder #23.1] [Also filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Check Registers, 1951-1960), Box #4.075, Folder #75.3]
• Letter from Dr. E.B. Chain, Instituto Superiore di Sanita, Italy, to LP RE: Corrects LP's discussion of the history of penicillin in General Chemistry. Chain encloses a reprint of a lecture he delivered which includes a short historic account of the penicillin discovery. [Letter from LP to Chain August 3, 1955] [Filed under LP Books: (General Chemistry: An Introduction to Descriptive Chemistry and Modern Chemical Theory, Second Edition), #1953b2.1]
• Letter from Dr. Kenneth S. Pitzer, Dean, College of Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley, to LP RE: Pleased with LP's offer to spend a week in January and a week in February at Berkeley. Wonders if he could stretch one of those weeks into a two-week or week-and-a-half period. Anxious for the younger staff to get acquainted with LP. Hopes LP has received a letter from Pitzer regarding the Sloan Foundation of Physical Sciences. [Letters from LP to Pitzer June 6, 1955, August 2, 1955] [Filed under LP Speeches: 1956s.3]
• Letter from L. A. DuBridge to Dr. James E. Bell RE: Sends official notice that the Board of Trustees authorized Bell's appointment as Professor Emeritus of Chemistry. [Filed under LP Correspondence: (B: Correspondence, 1955-1957), #38.1]
• Letter from LP to Barry Granoff, RE: Fears that the job of explaining the modern mysteries of science and why they are mysteries is too big for him. Encloses a copy of the baskerville chemical journal containing a speech which he gave on structural chemistry in relation to biology and medicine. Reactions that take place within organisms are some of the greatest problems, says LP. [Letter from Granoff to LP June 1, 1955] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (G: Correspondence, 1936-1956), #140.19]
• Letter from LP to Dr. Edmund M. Braun, RE: Encloses a copy of a statement that he used on radio and television that summarizes his lecture. Feels that this is the best he can do to answer Braun's letter of April 19. [Letter from Braun to LP April 19, 1955] [Filed under LP Peace: (Materials, re: Fallout and Radiation Shelters, and Civil Defense, 1954-1961), Box #7.007, Folder #7.1]
• Letter from LP to Dr. Rudolph W. Gilbert, First Unitarian Church, Denver, Colorado, RE: Regrets that he cannot accept the invitation to speak to the First Unitarian Church's congregation. Perhaps he will be able to do so in the distant future. [Letter from Gilbert to LP June 6, 1955] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (G: Correspondence, 1936-1956), #140.19]
• Letter from LP to Dr. W. Foerst, Editor, Angewandte Chemie, RE: Encloses copy of a news release that LP wrote. It briefly covers the text of the lecture Foerst had requested a copy of. [Filed under LP Correspondence: (A: Correspondence), #12.21]
• Letter from LP to George R. Harrison, Dean, School of Science, MIT. [Letter from Harrison to LP June 8, 1955] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (H: Correspondence, 1950-1955), #166.6]

  13 June 1955

  Dean George R. Harrison

  School of Science

  Massachusetts Institute of Technology

  Cambridge 39, Massachusetts

  Dear George:

  I am glad to give you my opinion of the scientific work of Professor Richard Bear.

  I have followed with much interest the work which Professor Bear has done on the x-ray diffraction patterns of proteins and their interpretation. His published papers impress me as being excellent - the very interesting results that he has obtained represent a significant contribution to science. It seems evident that he has had to work hard, and effectively to obtain these results.

  I am not able to say whether or not Professor Bear is a self-starter. I have not had very close personal contact with him, and there exists a possibility - it seems to me to be rather small -that the excellent work that he has done is due in significant part to advice and encouragement from someone else, presumably Professor Schmitt. However, I must assume that Professor Bear and his collaborators have done the work themselves, whether the inspiration for it came from Professor Schmitt or not, and the results obtained are impressive.

  I think that it is clear that Professor Bear is a very able man in his field of x-ray diffraction of proteins. If we needed to have a professor and research worker in our department, to carry on work along these lines, I would give Professor Bear consideration for the appointment. I think that the question of the appointment would depend not on his scientific ability, but rather on the matters of his personality and his effect on collaborators and students - that is, his attitude toward them; and I do not have much information about these matters. It is true that Professor Bear spent several months in our laboratory, but that was twenty years ago, and he was not in a position to demonstrate qualities of leadership.

  Sincerely yours,

  Linus Pauling:W

• Letter from LP to Professor H.G. Thode, Hamilton College, McMaster University, RE: Under separate cover, sends a copy of the annual Caltech Catalogue, a copy of a bulletin, "Facts About Cal Tech," and some other material. Discusses the admission of students and their performance on the ACS exam. Believes that the most unusual features of Caltech are the large amount of research carried out and the large number of staff members and post-doctoral researchers. Mentions that the first two years of study are similar for both scientists and engineers. [Letters from Thode to LP June 8, 1955, December 14, 1955] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (T: Correspondence, 1936-1955), #410.20]
• Letter from LP to Professor Nicholas D. Cheronis, Chemistry Dept., Brooklyn College, RE: Pleased to have received Cheronis' letter, with notes on the meaning of the word stochastic, as well as the outline of Cheronis' Heraclitus lecture. Looking forward to seeing Cheronis in Purdue. Pleased that Cheronis has his passport. [Filed under LP Correspondence: (C: Correspondence, 1921-1957), #74.23]
• Receipt from Macmillan & Co., Ltd., for LP's subscription to Nature, July 2, 1955 to June 30, 1956. [Filed under LP Correspondence: (M: Correspondence, 1950-1955), #256.6]