Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling

__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, Paulingamong many other achievementsrevolutionized 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 millionsand earned him a reputation as a kook and a crank. __Force of Nature__ tells Paulings 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 Paulings 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.