January 26, 1937

Professor Edward J. Salstrom

Department of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering

University of Washington

Seattle, Washington

Dear Ed:

I was glad to hear some months ago that you had gone to Washington because I think that there is more opportunity for you there than at Rollins.

You are right in judging that Jack Shorman is a good research man, and also in remembering that his personality is a little different from the usual one. You remember that he is small in stature and that he came from an uncultured environment. His interests continue to lie almost exclusively in his work. On the other hand, he is a smart young man and he has taken advantage of his opportunities to develop a considerable amount of selfpossession, so that he handles himself well in meeting people, in lecturing and teaching, and in his conduct in general. I believe that he would make a satisfactory lecturer and teacher and that he could handle first year students satisfactorily. I am sure that he would present the subject of elementary chemistry in a clear and thorough way. The one drawback which I should mention is that both in research and in teaching he might be apt to neglect the experimental side, inasmuch as his interests lie largely in theoretical matters and he has never had much liking for apparatus and experimental investigations. As a teaching fellow here he got along satisfactorily with his section. I am sure that if you were to have him with you you would find him helpful to all the members of the staff in discussing the theoretical aspects of your work. He has always gone out of the way being helpful to other people.

My wife joins me in sending regards to you and Mrs. Salstrom, and to your child, whom we met at Cambridge.

Sincerely yours,

Linus Pauling

LP:mrl