HUMANISM AND PEACE
Dear Professor Pauling: We were very much disturbed when you did not appear on flight
510 Tuesday and a short time later when we found your cable at Lonsdale’s we were
most unhappy. I phoned Kathleen’s office and she had heard the news from the Royal
Society and had also had a call from Bob and was able to give me his address. Although
I called all afternoon till 7:30 I did not reach him till Wednesday morning. Although
in your letter to me you had said he would read your paper if you could not come,
he practically insisted that I do it. In fact he had already arranged it that way
with Astbury and the people at the R. S. He and a number of others have said nice
things about the result but I really am afraid that it must have been rather flat.
The meeting was, in our opinion, (and many of the natives agree) very poorly organized.
There was not nearly enough time for the material scheduled and so in the end there
were only about fifteen minutes for discussion! As we were scheduled first, the result
was that subsequent speakers could, in effect, discuss those two papers and criticize
to their heart’s content while we had no time to answer them, as there was no discussion
allowed till after the last paper. Three brief unscheduled papers were inserted at
the end of the regular program and Edsall was asked to take up the last twenty minutes
with a summary which he himself, I think, regarded as quite pointless. In the brief
time left it was impossible to do more than emphasize the importance of being precise
about proposed structures and to point out that no one else had been so precise as
to permit of detailed criticism and this Bob did.
Our English friends are anxious to raise a row with the State Department although
the R. S. itself is perhaps reluctant to become involved. Kathleen says Sir Robert
R. is furious and intends as a private Fellow to do something. The Embassy is said
to have protested and Joe T. sent back a cable saying a latter is enroute and meantime
“keep cool.” Bob and I, not knowing what your wishes are, have been reluctant to
urge the local people one way or the other. Ruth and I are enroute back to Leeds
to arrival the 4th. Prof. Clark will lecture there the 5th and I hope by then he can tell me more. I will write again then. Till then our
best wishes and regards.
Linus Pauling
LP: fkg
