Force of Nature- The Life of Linus Pauling

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Force of Nature tells the story of :Linus Pauling, chemical wizard,  maverick genius, and the only person in history to win two unshared Nobel Prizes. He lived a life that was extraordinarily long, varied, tumultuous, and important for the history of twentieth-century science. During his seventy-year career, Pauling—among many other achievements—revolutionized our understanding of the nature of the chemical bond; won election to the National Academy of Sciences at age 31 (he was for many years the youngest person ever elected); uncovered the roots of sickle-cell anemia; defined the basic structure of proteins; won a Nobel Prize in chemistry; engaged in the sci­entific race of the century, for the structure of DNA; won a Presidential Medal of Merit for his war-related research into explosives and propellants; then worked tirelessly to stop the spread of nuclear weapons; was falsely accused of being a Communist; took on the US government in a series of suits and hearings; underwent a twenty-year investigation by the FBI; then won the Nobel Peace Prize. Along the way he significantly advanced the fields of structural chemistry, x-ray crys­tallography, electron diffraction, quantum mechanics, biochemistry, molecular evolution, immunology, and nutrition – with side trips into molecular psychiatry, nuclear physics, and anesthesia. He wrote more than 500 articles and eleven books, including some of the most influential college chemistry texts of our time. He engaged in long and loving relationship with a fiery and remarkable social activist, Ava Helen Pauling. He ranks among the greatest scientists of all time. Yet most people today know Pauling for another reason: his promotion of megadoses of Vitamin C. His unswerving advocacy of a cheap nutritional supplement changed the health habits of millions—and earned him a reputation as a kook and a crank. Force of Nature tells Pauling’s compelling story in full and colorful detail. It is “a thorough and thoroughly satisfying biography of a genius” (The New Yorker) that tells his story with a “delicate balancing act of empathy and critical analysis” (The Times Literary Supplement). In a four-star review, the Detroit Free Press calls Force of Nature “remarkable in both bringing to light Pauling’s personality and evaluating his scientific work,” the journal Nature terms it “monumental and authoritative,” and The New Scientist concludes, simply, that it is “the definitive biography.”