"The Impact of Linus Pauling on Molecular Biology." February 28, 1995. Talk delivered at the Pauling Symposium, Oregon State University.
A Friendly Rivalry. (1:36)
Transcript
Francis Crick: I next noticed Linus' influence when I went to join Max Perutz's lab. Before that
I had done a year or so in a tissue culture lab just to get some acquaintance with
biology. There, it was clear they were all very conscious of what Linus Pauling was
doing, because not many laboratories were using X-ray diffraction in those days, certainly
not to try and do protein structures, as Perutz and Kendrew were doing. But even on
organic molecules they were not doing so much, and therefore Pauling was a major presence
in the background of anything that happened in the lab.
There was a friendly rivalry between the group in Cambridge, in the Cavendish
lab, and Pauling's lab at Caltech. I say it was friendly because, as you know, science
is supposed to be cooperative. There is nevertheless a certain amount of competition,
because everybody wants to publish a little sooner than somebody else. It was friendly
because, for example, in the office that Jim Watson and I shared, there were several
other people, five or six, and one of them was Jerry Donohue who had worked with Linus
Pauling and had come to work with us; and a little later, Peter Pauling, who had come
to get his doctorate with us.
Clip
Creator: Francis Crick Associated: Linus Pauling, Max Perutz, John Kendrew, James D. Watson, Jerry Donohue, Peter Pauling Clip ID: 1995v.1-rivalry
Full Work
Creator: Francis Crick Associated: Linus Pauling, Oregon State University
