Letter from Linus Pauling to Andrew Recsei. May 20, 1957. Page 1  Larger Images / More Information. 1 p.  View Transcript

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Activity Listings

• Check from AHP to Raymond J. Pfau for $69.30. [Filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Bank Statements and Canceled Checks, February 1956-December 1957), Box #4.024, Folder #24.2]
• Check from LP to Peter Pauling for $500.00. [Filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Bank Statements and Canceled Checks, February 1956-December 1957), Box #4.024, Folder #24.2] [Also filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Check Registers, 1957-1962), Box #4.076, Folder #76.1]
• Letter from Barry Commoner to Herbert Jehle, RE: LP has asked that Commoner send Jehle 200 copies of the Appeal and a list of the individuals who have also received copies of the Appeal. Commoner reminds Jehle that LP is asking that the Appeals be signed and returned by June 1. [Filed under LP Peace: (An Appeal by Scientists to the Governments and People of the World, 1957-1959), Box #5.002, Folder #2.1]
• Letter from Barry Commoner to LP, RE: Commoner mailed via airmail about 300 letters and copies of the appeal to about 100 different institutions. Commoner hopes that this will get some more signatures for the appeal. Commoner has also sent a copy of the enclosed list of addressed to Dr. Jehle. [Filed under LP Peace: (An Appeal by Scientists to the Governments and People of the World, 1957-1959), Box #5.002, Folder #2.1]
• Letter from Dr. Felix Marti Ibanez, President, MD Publications, Inc to LP RE: Expresses distress at the fact that he had not been getting his copies of MD, comments that he will check with the company responsible for mailing out the magazine to make sure that they are sending a copy to him. Sends copies of issues already published and expresses regret that this situation has occurred. [Letter from Dr. Ibanez to LP January 31, 1957, Letter from LP to Dr. Ibanez May 21, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (M: Correspondence, 1957), #257.2]
• Letter from J. Howard McMillen, National Science Foundation to LP RE: Asks LP to review the proposal, P-3265 submitted by Raymond Pepkinsky. [Review of Proposal P-3265 by LP 1957] [Filed under LP Science: (National Science Foundation: Correspondence, 1947, 1951-1989), -Box #14.029, Folder #29.4]
• Letter from Jerome Davis to LP, RE: Davis thinks that LP's statement is great, unfortunately the leaflet has already gone to press. Davis suggests that they might run it later separately. [Filed under LP Peace: (An Appeal by Scientists to the Governments and People of the World, 1957-1959), Box #5.002, Folder #2.1]
• Letter from John T. Ward to LP, RE: Thanks LP for his reply to his inquiry about LP's statement concerning the biological effects of radiation and says that he will read Professor Lewis's remarks published in Science. Handwritten note at the top says, "File not to answer." [Letter from LP to Ward, May 21, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (W: Correspondence, 1953-1959.), Box #444, Folder #444.5]
• Letter from Kirtley Mather, Professor of Geology Harvard University to LP, RE: Mather is in great sympathy with LP's Appeal but does not think that it is exactly the sort of document that he would like to sign. It seems to Mather that the resolution by the Federation of American Scientists is more in line with his thoughts. Specifically, Mather sees no hope for the success of a campaign that is calling for the banning of "all nuclear weapons" because nuclear weapons designed for tactical use are now part of the arsenal. It is the megaton bombs designed for strategic warfare that Mather feels need to be banned. [Handwritten not in margin "he signed later"] [LP's reply December 1, 1957] [Filed under LP Peace: (An Appeal by Scientists to the Governments and People of the World, 1957-1959), Box #5.002, Folder #2.1]
• Letter from LP to G. Dupouy, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, RE: Writes to tell Dupouy that he and AHP will be arriving in Paris a few days earlier and asks which hotel Dupouy made a reservation at for them. [Letter from LP to Dupouy May 6, 1957] [Filed under LP Speeches: 1957s.23]
• Letter from LP to G. Dupouy, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, RE: changing LP and AHP's flight schedule from June 15th to June 11 [Letter from LP to Dupouy dated May 6, 1957] [Filed under LP Travel: Box #1.002, Folder #2.3]
• Letter from LP to Peter Pauling. [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #5.043, Folder #43.1]

  24 May 1957

  Dear Peter:

  I am pleased to learn about the progress that you have been making in the study of your crystals. It reminds me of my beginning efforts, in the fall of 1922. I started growing crystals of various sorts with special emphasis on cable crystals, as soon as I became a graduate student, and during the next three or four months I must have grown a score or more of different kinds of crystals, none of them turning out to be satisfactory for x-ray examination with the techniques available at that time.

  Your work on dehydrated methyl sulfates may well turn out to have considerable interest. I hope that you continue with it. I surmise that your anhydrous COSO₄ may well have the same structure as NiSO₄ as described by P. I. Dimaris in the last ACTA, 10, 313 (1957). This is an interesting structure. With the stoichiometry what it is, nickel can have on octahedral arrangement of six oxygens around it only by having half the oxygens form two bonds with nickel and half form only one bond. The difference in bond strengths shows up in a difference in distances, 2.06 Å and 1.99 Å, respectively. I would think that the differences might be somewhat more different from one another.

  I have a suggestion to make to you. In October 1922 I decided to prepare some anhydrous mixed sulfate. Frederic R. Mallet, J. Chem. Sec.77, 216, and 81, 1550, had reported that half a dozen mixed sulfates(2 MgSO₄•K₂SO₄, the same with Zn, Mn, Ni, and Co, and also 2MgSO₄•RbSO₄) form octahedral crystals. Moreover, tetrahedral crystals are formed by MgSO₄•K₂SO₄, and similar ones with Ma, Ni, and Co in place of Mg, and with Rb and Tl in place of K. In addition, anisotropic crystals are formed with compositions such as Rb₂SO₄•2 MnSO₄. About 15 or 20 different compositions are reported as corresponding to these anisotropic crystals.

  On 21 October 1922 I melted together 6.30 g of MgSO₄ and 9.125g of K₂SO₄ in a 20 cc porcelain crucible put in an electric crucible furnace, and allowed the melt to cool slowly. Some rather poorly formed tetrahedral crystals were obtained. On 23 October and 25 October I melted together nickel sulfate and potassium sulfate in the 1:1 ratio and obtained some small transparent yellow crystals that seemed to be tetrahedra. The composition of these crystals was presumably K₂Ni(SO₄)². On 23 October 1922 I also made a melt corresponding to K₂Co(SO₄)², over a Bunsen burner, allowed the melt to cool rather slowly, and then broke it open. There were some long needles, 5 mm long, and also a few tetrahedra. On 25 October 1922 I melted together nickel sulfate and potassium sulfate in composition corresponding to K₂Ni₂ (SO₄)³ (23.65 g of NiSO₄ and 13.40 g of K₂SO₄), and allowed the mixture to cool slowly, by slowly cutting down the voltage on the electric furnace. A yellow crystalline mass was obtained, with a druse containing crystals with edges as large as 2 mm, and with striated faces. I measured some of the crystal angles, obtaining 70 degrees 32 minutes and 54 degrees 48 minutes, only 2 minutes off from the theoretical for a cubic crystal. On 28 October I made an x-ray photograph, using radium radiation, and with a calcite crystal for calibration, and decided that the edge of the cubic unit was 9.808 Å. A Laue photograph taken on 31 October showed that there were no planes of symmetry, so that the point group symmetry had to be T or T. The space groups seemed to be T₁T₁ or T₄. There would be 8 nickel atoms, 3 potassium atoms, and 12 sulfate groups in the cube. I did not continue the investigation, but it seems to me that it should be possible to determine the structure of these crystals, inasmuch as isomorphous substitution could be resorted to in both the nickel position and the potassium position (putting in rubidium), and it seems to me that it would be well worth while to have a complete structure determination of these crystals. Yon might find the tetrahedral crystals with composition such as K₂Ni(SO₄)² interesting, also. I made no x-ray studies on these crystals. Also, it might be worth while to look at some of the crystals of lower symmetry. I should think that a study of all of these anhydrous double sulfates would make a fine thesis. The octahedral crystal and the tetrahedral crystal, after one example had had its structure determined, could be studied by just powder diagrams for the other representatives.

  Mama and I are looking forward to seeing you and the family. We probably shall fly from southern France to London on Friday 28 June, possibly not until Saturday 29 June. We propose to go up to Cambridge on the train on the morning of Monday 1 July. I am to speak at 4:30 P.M. at the opening ceremony of the British Gelatine and Glue Association meeting. We shall stay there until 4 July, and then go directly back to Paris. The formal dinner of the meeting is Wednesday evening. We look forward to seeing you.

  Much love from

  Linus Pauling

• Letter from Loenard Engel to LP RE: Thanks for the letter and looks forward to meeting him on June 11. [Letter from LP to Leonard Engel May 20, 1957] [Filed under LP Science: Box #11.088, Folder #88.3]
• Letter from Marie Oddo to LP RE: Thanks him for sending a copy of The Nature of the Chemical Bond and informs him that her father died two years ago, which is why she is responding. States that it was a pleasure to meet him at Bryn Mawr College. [Letter from LP to Professor Oddo February 4, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (O: Correspondence, 1957), #300.19]
• Letter from Paul Doty to LP, RE: As Chairman of the Executive Committee of the Federation of American Scientists, Doty does not feel that he should sign LP's appeal at this time. Doty hopes that LP will understand his reason for withholding his signature. Stan Livingston, a member of the committee, has completed a draft of a statement to be circulated to congressmen, Doty is enclosing a copy of it for LP. [Filed under LP Peace: (An Appeal by Scientists to the Governments and People of the World, 1957-1959), Box #5.002, Folder #2.1]
• Letter from Peter Briggs, Ladies' Home Journal, to LP RE: Hopes LP and AHP enjoy their trip to Europe. Perhaps LP will consider writing the article after he returns. [Letter from LP to Peter Briggs May 22, 1957] [Filed under LP Manuscripts of Articles: 1956a.5]
• Letter from R.C. Croft to LP RE: Requests a meeting with LP to discuss some unusual forms of bonding when he comes to LA for a visit from Australia. [Letter from Dr. Croft to LP June 7, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (C: Correspondence, 1957), #74.25]
• Newspaper Clipping: "Pauling to Talk at Westside CC," California Jewish Press, May 24, 1957. [Filed under LP Biographical: (LP Scrapbooks, 1956-1960), Box #6.007, Folder #7.33]