Tuesday, February 28, 2006
This Day in the History of Science
On this day in 1901, double Nobel Laureate (Chemistry 1954 and Peace 1962) Linus Pauling was born. He applied quantum mechanics to his study of chemical structures and found so much he probably deserved the Chemistry Nobel Prize for a few years running. His particular forte regarded chemical bonding. Thus, he discovered and charted the chemical underpinnings of life itself. As he grew older, he was an opponent to nuclear weapons (thus the Peace Prize) and finally a proponent of vitamin C. On this day in 1951, Pauling, with Robert Corey published a theory of protein structure, which was nearly 100% correct, in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Also on this day, a Saturday in 1953, Jim Watson went early to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, where he shuffled cardboard cutouts until he discovered the complementary pairing between the DNA protein bases, an important step in the discovery of the double helix of DNA. Of course, Watson couldn't have done any of his work had not Pauling published his discoveries in the two years before.
Also on this day, a Saturday in 1953, Jim Watson went early to the Cavendish Laboratory in Cambridge, England, where he shuffled cardboard cutouts until he discovered the complementary pairing between the DNA protein bases, an important step in the discovery of the double helix of DNA. Of course, Watson couldn't have done any of his work had not Pauling published his discoveries in the two years before.
# posted by Roger Fraley @ 6:51 AM 
