Linus Pauling Interview, October 16, 1992

In this interview with biographer Thomas Hager, Linus Pauling discusses his experiences and academic work during the 1930s and 1940s. He explains that in the 1930s, funding primarily came from the Rockefeller Foundation and that science departments began to get funding from the government when World War II began. After the war, the Public Health Service Grant was canceled, limiting funding for many scientists. Pauling received money from the Ford Foundation, which benefitted his work.

Pauling then discusses his political views as they developed after World War II. He explains that he supported the Progressive candidate Henry Wallace, whom he viewed to be rational and honest. Pauling gave a speech at Griffith Park in Los Angeles right before Wallace spoke and formed his impression of Wallace then. Pauling mentions that he enjoys speaking but prefers smaller, more attentive crowds.

The interview then turns to Pauling’s meetings with Hewlett Johnson and Karl Popper, both of whom he interacted with briefly. Pauling then begins to discuss how he came to work in chemistry and how that intersected with his interests in physics. He briefly touches on his post-doctoral work in Germany and his early studies on chemical bonds. He discusses the early papers he read that drew him to the field and his work with Maurice Huggins. The interview concludes with Pauling explaining his decision to teach at UC-Berkeley in 1929.