14 June 1954

Mr. Phillip L. Adams

26 rue d'Edimbourg

Paris 8

France

Dear Mr. Adams:

I have been interested to read your letter of 25 April, and I have thought about it several times, before deciding how to answer it.

I am glad that you are interested in the problem of the nature of life, in a broad sense. I have the feeling, from your letter, that you are interested in it now in too broad a sense, and that it would be wise for you to decide to begin by restricting your interest, and then later to broaden it. You have referred to almost everything in the world, in your letter. Of course, you state that total knowledge is impossible, and apparently recognize that you will have to pick a somewhat limited objective, and work toward it.

I have formed the opinion that you are really getting around to deciding that you should be a scholar and a teacher. If you do decide to become a teacher, then you will have the opportunity to devote your life to helping to answer your fundamental question, what is life?

I think that I would advise you to try to decide now what field you would prefer to specialize in - what field of knowledge you would like to learn thoroughly, and teach. This would, presumably, then be the field, bearing on the nature of life, that you first would study intensively.

Have you been interested in biology? With the scientific background that you have, perhaps you should plan to become a biologist. I think that the biologists are making great progress in the attack on the problem of the nature of life. Of course, during recent years chemists have been working on the same problems. There is a new field, that of molecular biology, that is now being developed, in considerable part through the work of chemists. I enclose a reprint of a paper of mine, on the hemoglobin molecule in health and disease, which will give you some idea about this field.

If you want a superficial knowledge of biological work in relation to the question of the nature of life, then I think that you can start out by reading articles in the issues of the Scientific American that have appeared during recent years. I do not think, however, that these rather

Mr. Adams -2- 14/6/54

popular articles will do the job that you want done.

I am leaving Pasadena in two days, and I shall be gone for a month. After my return, I should be glad to write to you again, and answer any questions that may have arisen because of this letter. I cannot recommend a school or college to you at the present time - I need to have a better idea about your plans.

Sincerely yours,

Dictated by Linus Pauling

Signed in his absence:W