11 April 1962
Dear Bragg:
On my return to Pasadena from a lecture tour for the American Friends (Quakers) I
have found your letter of 13 March.
I am sorry to say that I never completed the work on cancrinite. During the years
following 1930 I began a number of investigations on the structure of various minerals.
Some of them I was able to carry to completion, but some remained incomplete when
I shifted from the structure of minerals to another field, the structure of organic
substances, and especially those of biological interest.
There were probably several factors involved in this shift, but I think that you will
be amused to learn about one of them. I attempted to get a grant from the Penrose
Fund of the American Geological Society, in order to give support to a continuation
of my work on the structure of minerals. The grant was not awarded to me, and I applied
to the Rockefeller Foundation, getting a grant for one year to support work in this
general field, including inorganic structures as well as the structure of minerals.
As the end of the year approached it seemed pretty clear to me that I would have difficulty
in getting further support from the Rockefeller Foundation unless I became interested
in chemistry in relation to biology, and in fact I was successful in getting support
for work in that field.
With best regards, I am
Sincerely yours,
[Linus Pauling]
