Linus Pauling: A Life In Science And Politics and Vitamin C (Orthomolecular Medicine) PDF
Preview Linus Pauling: A Life In Science And Politics and Vitamin C (Orthomolecular Medicine)
LINUS P A U LING A LIFE IN SCIENCE AND POLITICS “Trimmer and more sculptured [than other biographies of Pauling]... psychologically more probing.” —New York Times Book Review TED GOERTZEL AND BEN GGERTZEL LINUS PA U L I N G 1 L I N U n i PAULIN n A LIFE IN SCIENCE AND POLITICS Ted Gdertzel and Ben Gdertzel with the assistance of MILDRED GDERTZEL VICTOR GDERTZEL with original drawings by GWEN GDERTZEL BasicBooks A Division of HarperCollins/W»/«&m Copyright © 1995 by Ted Goertzel. Published by BasicBooks, A Division of HarperCollins Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. Printed in the United States of America. No part of this book may be reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles and reviews. For information, address BasicBooks, 10 East 53rd Street, New York, NY 10022-5299. Designed by Elliott Beard Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Goertzel, Ted George. Linus Pauling: a life in science and politics / by Ted Goertzel and Ben Goertzel with the assistance of Mildred Goertzel, Victor Goertzel. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-465-00672-8 (cloth) ISBN 0-465—00673—6 (paper) 1. Pauling, Linus, 1901-1994. 2. Scientists—United States—Biography. I. Goertzel, Ben. II. Title. Q143.P25G64 1995 540'.92—dc20 [B] 95-9005 CIP 96 97 98 99 ♦/HC 987654321 Contents Acknowledgments vii I NTRODUCTION xiii 1. End of Childhood, 1901—1913 1 2. Dropout of the Class of ’17, 19 1 3-1 922 21 3. Hidden Patterns, 1 922—1 925 35 4. “An Extraordinarily Productive Scientific Kopf,” 1926—1935 61 3. Proteins, Politics, and Passports, 1935—1954 85 6. Fallout, 1954—1960 133 CONTENTS 7. “A Consistent Pro-Soviet Bias, 158 1 960-1 966 8. Orthomolecular Medicine, 192 1966-1990 9. 238 Alone at Big Sur, 199 1-1 994 Appendix: Patterns in Ink 255 N OTES 277 Selected References 283 Index 287 a V I Acknowledgments ^^y parents, Mildred and Victor Goertzel, began work on this biography, with Pauling’s assistance, in 1962, as a continuation of their work on the childhood of eminent peo¬ ple (see Cradles of Eminence and Three Hundred Eminent Personalities). They admired him especially for his leadership of the peace movement and thought that his biography would be inspirational for young people who might be thinking of a career in science or involvement in worthy causes. They interviewed relatives, teachers, and neighbors who knew Pauling in his childhood. Pauling was generous with his time in reading and editing their drafts of early chapters about his childhood and fam¬ ily background. He also authorized the psychologist Anne Roe to pro¬ vide them with a copy of the record of the Rorschach test that Pauling had taken as one of the subjects in her book The Making of a Scientist. Victor had done his Ph.D. dissertation in psychology using the Rorschach. Mildred and Victor differed with Pauling, however, about the focus of the book. They wanted to emphasize his personality; he wanted extensive details about his scientific work. They put the project aside for a number of years but continued to follow his life. They were troubled when Pauling began his crusade over vitamin C. Much later, they were ACKNOWLEDGMENTS distressed by his treatment of Arthur Robinson, whom they came to know personally. They again worked sporadically on the manuscript, which became more critical, less pacifist hagiography. Mildred and Victor then asked me, their oldest son and a professor at Rutgers University with an interest in the psychosocial roots of political beliefs (see Turncoats and True Believers), to help with the manuscript. I interviewed some of Pauling’s associates who lived on the East Coast and added material on Pauling’s scientific contributions and on the contro¬ versies surrounding orthomolecular medicine. When Pauling contracted prostate cancer in 1991, at the age of ninety, we decided that I should undertake the preparation of a final manuscript. Mildred and Victor’s health no longer permitted full par¬ ticipation, and we thought that a complete rewrite by one author would lead to a more coherent book. My experience in statistical research methods was particularly helpful in making sense of the ongoing con¬ troversies concerning vitamins and health. Victor and I visited the newly established Linus and Ava Helen Pauling Papers at Oregon State Univer¬ sity to collect material from letters and other documents and updated some of the interviews with Pauling’s associates. I reestablished contact with Pauling, and he was reviewing the manuscript when he died in August 1994. He had already sent comments and a few minor correc¬ tions of chapter 3 concerning his contributions in chemistry. At this point, I asked my son, Benjamin Goertzel, a mathematician and cognitive scientist, to help with the chapters on Pauling’s science. Our editor, Susan Rabiner at Basic Books, told us that Pauling was right: the biography needed much more about Pauling’s contributions to sci¬ ence. Ben has the mathematical understanding of quantum theory needed to understand Pauling’s work fully and the literary skill needed to communicate it. He also contributed his insights as a cognitive scientist who understands a great deal about how scientists think (his books include The Structure of Intelligence, The Evolving Mind, and Chaotic Logic). In the end, the final draft covers very much the same scientific material that Pauling told my parents it should thirty years ago. In no way can this be considered an authorized biography—it is quite critical of Pauling in many ways. Pauling knew of our views because we had published them in the Antioch Review in 1980, and we appreciate VIII
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