Linus Pauling Interview, August 20, 1991

Interviewee: Linus Pauling
Interviewer: Thomas Hager
Interview Date: August 20, 1991
Location: Interview conducted over telephone
Duration: 1:12:16
 

This interview with biographer Thomas Hager revolves around Pauling’s return to Caltech after his time as a Guggenheim Fellow, his transition to Assistant Professor, his second trip to Europe, and his work on the chemical bond. Pauling recounts accepting the job at Caltech from A. A. Noyes, his duties and placement as head of the X-ray lab, and memories of some of his graduate students. Work that Pauling and his graduate students did during this period is delved into, particularly determining the structure of substances such as mica and chlorides with the use of X-ray crystallography.

Pauling then speaks on his second trip to Europe in 1930 where he spent several months in Germany working on quantum mechanical equations. Caltech’s facilitation and financing of the trip is explained. Of great insight is the interview’s in-depth conversation on Pauling’s breakthrough mathematical thinking that allowed him to continue his work on the nature of the chemical bond. The excitement of this solution to the quantum mechanics of chemical bonds and Pauling’s subsequent feverish pace of working and writing afterward is celebrated in the interview.

From there, Pauling expounds on zero-order calculations, perturbation theory, the stochastic method, and several areas of chemical bonding that he applied these tools to. Also reviewed in the interview is his work on the alpha-helix with Robert B. Corey, his relationship with and reflections on Lawrence Bragg, why understanding the new quantum mechanics quickly became essential scientific knowledge, some thoughts on Paul Epstein and Hermann Mark, and other topics.

Dublin Core

Title

Linus Pauling Interview, August 20, 1991

Description

This interview with biographer Thomas Hager revolves around Pauling’s return to Caltech after his time as a Guggenheim Fellow, his transition to Assistant Professor, his second trip to Europe, and his work on the chemical bond. Pauling recounts accepting the job at Caltech from A. A. Noyes, his duties and placement as head of the X-ray lab, and memories of some of his graduate students. Work that Pauling and his graduate students did during this period is delved into, particularly determining the structure of substances such as mica and chlorides with the use of X-ray crystallography.

Pauling then speaks on his second trip to Europe in 1930 where he spent several months in Germany working on quantum mechanical equations. Caltech’s facilitation and financing of the trip is explained. Of great insight is the interview’s in-depth conversation on Pauling’s breakthrough mathematical thinking that allowed him to continue his work on the nature of the chemical bond. The excitement of this solution to the quantum mechanics of chemical bonds and Pauling’s subsequent feverish pace of working and writing afterward is celebrated in the interview.

From there, Pauling expounds on zero-order calculations, perturbation theory, the stochastic method, and several areas of chemical bonding that he applied these tools to. Also reviewed in the interview is his work on the alpha-helix with Robert B. Corey, his relationship with and reflections on Lawrence Bragg, why understanding the new quantum mechanics quickly became essential scientific knowledge, some thoughts on Paul Epstein and Hermann Mark, and other topics.

Creator

Linus Pauling

Source

Thomas Hager Papers (MSS Hager)

Publisher

Special Collections and Archives Research Center, Oregon State University Libraries

Date

August 20, 1991

Contributor

Thomas Hager

Format

Digitized Audiocassette

Language

English

Type

Oral History

Identifier

msshager-pauling-linus-19910820

Oral History Item Type Metadata

Interviewer

Thomas Hager

Interviewee

Linus Pauling

Location

Interview conducted over telephone

Original Format

Audiocassette tape

Duration

1:12:16

OHMS Object

Interview Format

audio