Linus Pauling

Linus Pauling was born on February 28, 1901 in Portland, Oregon, USA as Linus Carl Pauling. He was married to Ava Helen Miller.

In 1933 he became the youngest person ever to be elected to the National Academy of Sciences.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Pauling researched abnormal molecules and hereditary faults in body chemistry seeking the biochemical aspects of such disorders as schizophrenia and sickle-cell anemia.

Pauling used the insights of quantum physics to theorize about a vibrating "resonance" within atoms which gives them the cohesiveness necessary for the molecular formations that bind all complex substances. This research allowed other scientists to unriddle the structure of DNA. For this work, he received the 1954 Nobel prize in chemistry.

Became the only person ever to win two unshared Nobel awards when, in 1962, he received the Nobel Peace Prize for his antiwar activism and his protests against nuclear weapons testing.

In 1973, founded the Linus Pauling Institute of Science and Medicine, an independent nonprofit research and educational organization devoted to study of what he called orthomolecular medicine. He claimed that megadoses of Vitamin C can prevent and cure a number of ills, from the common cold to cancer, and promote longevity.

Inducted into the Orthomolecular Medicine Hall of Fame in 2004 (inaugural class).

Pictured on one of a set of four 41¢ USA commemorative postage stamps in the American Scientists series, issued 6 March 2008. Others honored in the series were John Bardeen, Edwin Hubble, and biochemist Gerty Cori.