Linus Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon, on 28 February 1901 and died at his house on the Big Sur coast of California on 19 August 1994. If he did not quite equal Francis Bacon in taking all knowledge for his province, his life embraced much of the scientific, political, and social turmoil of the 20th century. As the chief architect of modern structural chemistry and as one of the founding fathers of molecular biology, his scientific reputation is secure and such controversy as remains concerns the provenance and the enduring magnitude of his singular achievements. His chef d'oevre, The Nature of the Chemical Bond, endures as a landmark text of 20th century chemistry. Inevitably the political, social, and medical activism that came to dominate the last third of his long life was more controversial, and some of it remains so. To his most ardent admirers he became something of a secular saint; to his more strident detractors he was a politically naive dupe and medical charlatan. For most of us the truth lies "this side idolatry" but far removed from obloquy.

Several recent books have tried to come to terms with Pauling's chameleon-like personality. These books have been widely reviewed, separately or in batches, by an eclectic group of famous and not-so-famous reviewers including chemists of various stripes, a biologist, a mathematician, and a nuclear physicist. Several of these reviewers knew Pauling well: John D. Roberts (1), Harden M. McConnell (2), and Zelek S. Herman (3), while others admired (most of the time) from a distance: Peter Atkins (4), Jeremy Bernstein (5), John Allen Paulos (6), Alan Mackay (7), and Derek A. Davenport (8). Not surprisingly, there is no unanimity of judgement; but a general consensus seems to have emerged, as this review of reviews will attempt to show.

Linus Pauling: A Man and His Science (Serafini)

The first full-scale biography of Pauling was by Anthony Sarafini, a Professor of Philosophy and Religion who had previously written widely for the popular press and was then engaged on compiling an anthology of Ethics and Social Concern. It was presumably the latter task that drew him to Pauling, for his biographyor rather pathographyshows little knowledge of and does scant justice to Pauling's seminal contributions to science. As I have written elsewhere "should the National Enquirer ever launch a scientific book club Anthony Serafini's Linus Pauling: A Man and His Science would make an appropriate first selection" (9). After a somewhat self-serving and occasionally inaccurate "Foreword" by Isaac Asimov we are treated to a sensationalistic account of that "American Cowboy of Science", Linus Pauling. The very chapter headings set the tone: "Pauling vs. Dorothy Wrinch", "The War Years", "The McCarthy Era and the `Race' for DNA", "A Brush with Death", "At War with Herman J. Muller", "Squaring Off With William F. Buckley, Jr.", "Pauling vs. the Medical Establishment", and "Break from Arthur Robinson". All in all it is a miracle the man lived to be 93. When the book appeared it was memorably denounced by John D. Roberts (10) and John S. Rigden (11), among others. Copies of Serafini's book are still to be found on remainder lists and shelves. Whatever the price, it should be resisted.

Linus Pauling: Scientist and Advocate (Newton)

As an introduction to its subject for "young adults" this modest book achieves it purpose modestly well. It is based entirely on secondary sources (Serafini's book is listed as the "definitive biography of Pauling, thus far"!); and while it contains some misleading and wrong statements it nonetheless succeeds in conveying many of the facts and some of the spirit of Pauling's life.

Linus Pauling: A Life in Science and Politics (Goertzel)

This is a three-generational family affair: five Goertzels, including Ted Goertzel, the principal author, are listed on the title page and a sixth in the acknowledgments. The book was begun in 1962 by Mildred and Victor Goertzel, parents of the principal author. As social psychologists they were interested in the childhood of eminent people. They admired Pauling for his leadership role in the peace movement and thought that "his biography would be inspirational for young people". Not surprisingly, they placed their emphasis more on Pauling's personality than on his science. One consequence of this emphasis is an appendix containing Pauling's responses to a Rorschach personality analysis. Unfortunately the ink blots are not reproduced, but Pauling's provocative, eclectic, and felicitously phrased responses are given in detail. The responses are then analyzed by several experts. Most of the reviewers are skeptical of the putative psychological traits thus revealed. "You either believe this sort of thing or you don't" (1). "To those who knew Pauling, [their] conclusions border on the comical" (2). "As to the interpretation of the Rorschach protocol by the experts I shall, in the spirit of collegiality, pass by in silence" (8). But then, ever since Robert Boyle, chemists have been expected to be skeptical. It does not seem to occur to these experts that Pauling, quite characteristically, may have been amusing himself by showing off, one of many traits that made him such a brilliant lecturer.

Pauling cooperated with the elder Goertzels and approved drafts of several early chapters, though he was dismayed by the slight attention then given to his scientific accomplishments. For a variety of reasons the book fell by the wayside. When in 1991 the project was reactivated by Ted Goertzel, a sociologist, he decided to co-opt his son, Benjamin, a cognitive scientist, to help do justice to Pauling's science. Unfortunately this ploy did not succeed and Pauling's science is, for the most part, shabbily treated. Nonetheless the book is worth reading for its psychological insights and for the very different, and less flattering, spin the Goertzels put on some of the activities associated with the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine, in particular the Robinson affair. Arthur Robinson was a protege and associate of Pauling whose summary dismissal from the Institute in 1978 led to much acrimony and to protracted litigation. The Goertzels came to know Robinson well and their account of the affair is much less sympathetic to Pauling's actions than is the more neutral, even pro-Pauling, account of Thomas Hager (see below). While Roberts (1) praises the relatively easy flow of the [Goertzel] book others find it "ploddingly written" (4, 8). All agree the proofreading is poor "with spellings of names more phonetic than actual". "It is written with greyer spectacles and deserves to be read alongside Hager" (4). Even Zelek S. Herman, the least sympathetic of the reviewers, begrudgingly allows that "the Goertzel biography is interesting, although simplistic, reading and is generally sympathetic to Pauling" (3).

Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling (Hager)

Thomas Hager, a science journalist, has written what is clearly the best account of Pauling's life and work so far. While Hager goes to some lengths to deny that his is an "authorized biography" he did have the early cooperation of Linus himself and the guarded cooperation of some members of the family. While Harden McConnell finds Hager's book "particularly well-written, comprehensive, and well-documented", his former Caltech colleague, Jack Roberts, finds it "slow-going". Roberts does give credit to Hager for "digging out an enormous amount of information that, to my knowledge, is heretofore unpublished". Roberts is also the only reviewer to complain that "the Goertzels, and especially Hager, seem to delight in trying to gore Caltech about its treatment of Linus" (1). John Allen Paulos asserts that "Hager's extensively researched book is [also] engaging and readable, despite a touch of the gigantism to which biographies are prone these days" (6). The present writer feels that "as a veteran of the medical beat [Hager] handles the molecular biology and dietetics with understandable (in two senses) authority. He is equally persuasive in the chapters devoted to physical science and to political activism" (8). However, as Roberts correctly insists, there is an occasional tendency for undocumented assertion and journalistic hyperbole. Thus the introduction characterizes Linus as "a genius whose mother was committed to a mental ward, a pacifist who patented an armor-piercing shell, a humanist who practically ignored his children" and as "fiercely competitive and emotionally constricted" (1). As Zelek S. Herman noted of the Goertzel book, "the picture of Linus Pauling falls far short of the person I knew and came to admire and respect for his great intellect and, above all, for his unbounded humanitarianism" (3). Most who knew Linus Pauling would probably agree.

In spite of such lapses, Hager's portrait is a favorable, if not hagiographic, one. As the author frankly admits, "I began this portrait as a Pauling enthusiast, and remain one, although my enthusiasm is now qualified." For the time being Hager's biography stands as "best of show" and a daunting challenge to his successors.

Linus Pauling in His Own Words (Marinacci)

Barbara Marinacci, whose brother Barclay Kamb is married to Pauling's only daughter, Linda, was a longtime friend and professional associate of Linus Pauling. In his introduction to her anthology Pauling ruefully admits that "this book will take me as close to writing my memoirs or autobiography as I shall ever get." The book is dedicated "to the memory of Linus Pauling" and "to the long and flourishing life of the nonprofit organization he founded to conduct research and education on the connection between human health and nutrition". In short, this is an insider's book.

"Marinacci, a professional writer, is modestly listed as editor. However, In His Own Words is not quite accurate. She has used an editor's prerogative to not only set the context and ensure the continuity of Pauling's words, but to do quite a bit of editorializing as well." "In later chapters, ... the Marinacci words are sufficiently numerous to merit co-authorship." So writes Jack Roberts, who, while he finds much of the book admirable and fascinating, is put off by the excessive editorializing (1). Jeremy Bernstein slyly, and not entirely charitably, observes in a footnote: "As one might imagine, the commentaries she offers on the various quotations are pretty elegiac" (5). This reviewer finds her editorial eye keen, shrewd, and not overly fond.

Pauling was a fine writer, a great propagandist, and an incomparable lecturer. "Pauling's prose is direct, devoid of panache or intimate revelations, yet his optimistic, ebullient public personality comes through strongly" (6). Does "panache" mean something different to a mathematician? Because her book is intended for the general reader Marinacci does not include any of Pauling's technical papers, but hers is an admirable selection of his numerous speeches, popularizations, and most memorably, recollections - most in tranquillity but some in sadness and even anger. The book would be an admirable addition to any undergraduate, high school, or public library.

The Pauling Symposium

On 28 February 1995, Pauling's birthday, Francis Crick gave the opening lecture of a two-day symposium titled "The Life and Work of Linus Pauling (1901-1994): A Discourse on the Art of Biography". Crick's address concludes, "I do not think that it is right to discuss the impact of Linus Pauling on molecular biology. Rather, he was one of the founders of molecular biology." Next morning the platform was shared by Thomas Hager, Robert Paradowski, and Ted Goertzel, who discussed their very different approaches to the writing of Pauling's biography. Hager's and Goertzel's books have been discussed above; Paradowski's "authorized" work-in-progress will be referred to later. The remainder of the articles are by scientists who knew Pauling personally and by historians of science casting their skeptical professional eye from afar.

The volume is highly readable and, at $25, very reasonably priced.

Works-in-Progress

According to Zelek S. Herman "the best biography in my opinion is the short one by Pauling's only authorized biographer, Robert J. Paradowski who has extensively studied Pauling's scientific work and who knew him for many years." Unfortunately this biography/chronology, though written in English, was published in a hard-to-find Japanese volume (12). Paradowski's 1972 University of Wisconsin Ph.D. thesis titled The Structural Chemistry of Linus Pauling is the only compulsively readable thesis that has come my way in a lifetime of sitting on M.S. and Ph.D. final orals. Subsequently Paradowski got to know Pauling intimately, was anointed as his authorized biographer, and has spent the last 20 years accumulating a unique store of knowledge concerning his subject. Since Paradowski writes well and has unusually catholic interests, the book - or rather books, since it will be in at least three volumes - should be well worth waiting for. But for how long? Paradowski tells me he definitely expects completion by the centennial year, 2001 (private communication from Robert J. Paradowski). I hope I live to read it!

In his review, Alan Mackay (7) mentions that Jack Dunitz, a well-known crystallographer, has agreed to tackle Pauling's scientific life for the Biographical Memoirs of the Fellows of the Royal Society. Such Memoirs are generally authoritative, thorough, literate, and not unduly delayed. No doubt there are other biographers lurking in the shadows, but in Wittgenstein's words "whereof one cannot speak, thereof one must be silent."

Conclusion

A summary statement from each of the seven reviewers makes a fitting conclusion.

Roberts: "Linus Pauling was an extraordinary person - a scientist, educator, humanist, and statesman with worldwide impact in each of these roles." Herman: "Linus Pauling undoubtedly stands as one of the most influential scientists of the twentieth century." McConnell: "Although Pauling was often controversial and was sometimes criticized in both scientific and political arenas, it is incontrovertible that he had a major impact on science, education, and international peace." Atkins: "Here [Caltech] was exactly the intellectually stimulating environment, encouraging the crossing of disciplinary borders, that would provide Pauling with the perfect compost for his mould of science." Bernstein: "He combined scientific brilliance, political courage, and a stubborn, quirky single-mindedness in ways that... will probably always resist simple explanation." Paulos: "From time to time throughout his long life, scientists and commentators dismissed him as a showman. Would that we had a whole troupe of such scientific showmen." Mackay: "Pauling's style was that of a conquistador in the realm of science." Davenport: "But whatever the context and whatever the audience, he was clear, he was committed, he was compassionate, and, far more often than most, he was right - or if not, at least on the side of the angels."

Literature Cited

1. Roberts, J. D. Chem. Eng. News 1996, 74(17), 47-49.
2. McConnell, H. M. Science 1996, 271, 603-604.
3. Herman, Z. S. Chem. Intelligencer 1996, 2(2), 57-58.
4. Atkins, P. Nature 1995, 378, 567-568.
5. Bernstein, J. "Odd Man In", The New York Review of Books, November 16, 1995.
6. Paulos, J. A. "Pauling's Prizes", The New York Times Book Review, November 5, 1995.
7. Mackay, A. New Sci. 1995, 148(2005).
8. Davenport, D. A. Physics Today 1996, 49(5), 65-66.
9. Davenport, D. A. Bull. Hist. Chem. 1990, 8, 28-29.
10. Roberts, J. D. Chem. Eng. News 1990, 68(5).
11. Rigden, J. S. Physics Today 1990, 43(5), 81-82.
12. Paradowski, R. J. In Linus Pauling: A Man of Intellect and Action: Cosmos International: Tokyo, 1991; pp 185-211. The author thanks Dr. Paradowski for sending him a preprint of this article.