The Scientific War Work of Linus C. Pauling - Special Collections & Archives Research Center

A Documentary History

Among the less fully explored components of Linus Pauling's remarkable career is the five-year stretch of scientific war work that Pauling oversaw on behalf of the United States government during World War II. Utilizing nearly 300 documents, photographs and audio clips, this website presents original research on Pauling's fascinating body of war work, a program which came to include invisible inks, rocket propellants, an artificial blood substitute and a groundbreaking apparatus used to measure the amounts of oxygen available to aviators and submarine crews engaged in combat.

Start by reading our Introduction, or choose one of the three sections:

Narrative		All Documents and Media		Linus Pauling Day-By-Day
An illustrated, forty-seven page account of Pauling's life, work and collaborations during World War II. Read Narrative.		A wealth of primary sources - nearly three-hundred manuscripts, photographs, government documents, audio-visual snippets and more - provide new insight into Pauling's vast program of scientific war research. View All Documents and Media.		An ambitious and expanding documentation of every day of Linus and Ava Helen Pauling's lives, including a full account of the years forever defined by World War II. Browse Linus Pauling Day-By-Day.

The Pauling Oxygen Meter, 1947

Linus Pauling, 1940s

Conceptual sketch of a multi-range rocket, ca. 1945

Vannevar Bush, 1940s

"Confidential" stamp, ca. 1940

More Information
Introduction
Copyright and Documentation Classification Information
Credits and Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Search
Chronological List of Documents

Except where noted, all items are courtesy of the
Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers, Oregon State University Libraries.

Special Collections & Archives Research Center, The Valley Library, Oregon State University
Corvallis, Oregon 97331-4501
Phone: 541-737-2083 / Fax: 541-737-8674
Email: scarc@oregonstate.edu
Web: https://scarc.library.oregonstate.edu