Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling [Hardcover]

Thomas Hager (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 30, 1995

In this thoroughly researched biography of one of the greatest American scientists of this century--the only person ever to win two unshared Nobel Prizes--Hager had the full cooperation of his subject, plus unrestricted access to Pauling's personal papers. of photos.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Linus Pauling (1901-1994), biochemist, peace activist, advocate of nuclear disarmament, champion of vitamin C as a remedy for colds and cancer, was a scientific genius who leaped the boundaries of physics, chemistry, biology and medicine, and in so doing helped to create whole new disciplines including molecular biology and chemical physics. In a balanced, captivating biography, freelance writer Hager skillfully leads the reader through Pauling's pioneering work in fields ranging from quantum theory to crystallography to immunology. Drawing on scores of interviews with Pauling, his family and his colleagues, and on the two-time Nobel Prize-winner's papers, Hager limns a fiercely competitive, emotionally constricted man, irreverent, audacious, sometimes self-righteous and bullying?a more complex figure than his public persona of maverick idealist. Though a self-professed lover of humanity, Pauling practically ignored his own children. His father, an ambitious Oregon druggist, worked himself to death at the age of 32, and his widowed, worn-out, delusional mother was committed to a mental ward shortly before her death. Drawing on a trove of newly declassified government documents, Hager tells the full story of the FBI's harassment and intimidation of Pauling for his leftist politics.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

Pauling's scientific career spanned nearly the entire 20th century, from his revolutionary Nobel Prize-winning theories on the chemical bond to his controversial work on orthomolecular medicine and vitamin therapy, which continued up to his death in 1994. To many, however, he is best remembered as an ardent peace activist and a crusader for human rights, which brought him his second Nobel. Throughout his career, he was called a genius, a visionary, a Communist, and even a crank. Nothing about Pauling was simple or obvious. For a biographer, writing the life story of so enigmatic a figure is a great challenge and requires an almost epic effort. Neither of these two new biographies is strictly authorized, although Pauling cooperated to some degree in the writing of each. Hager's massive work invokes the broadest context and best portrays Pauling as a man of insight and conscience and a major player in science, politics, and society throughout some extraordinary times. A journalist, Hager made extensive use of Pauling's official archives in the library at Oregon State University and also drew upon reams of other primary sources, including formerly classified materials from the FBI and State Department. Hager does a superior job of fleshing out the details of Pauling's influences and motivations. He also interprets freely, especially in sections describing Pauling's political convictions, and, while some historians might quibble with certain interpretations, Hager backs them up with reference to primary literature. By contrast, the Goertzels' rendering is more factual and straightforward, and it is probably less vulnerable to being criticized for subjectivity. Like Hager, however, the authors (Ted, the father, is a sociology professor; Ben is a lecturer in cognitive science) can be both laudatory and critical of Pauling. Their book's greatest virtue is the lucid and methodological way it expounds Pauling's science, compared with Hager's somewhat discursive technical passages. The Goertzels' work might be the better choice for pedagogical purposes, but, overall, Hager's is better for the majority of general and informed lay readers. Either book is better than Anthony Serafini's Linus Pauling: A Man and his Science (LJ 3/15/89. o.p.). Of the third of these new releases, Linus Pauling in His Own Words, Pauling wrote, "This book will take me as close to writing my memoirs or autobiography as I shall ever get." The editor was a lifelong associate of Pauling and an employee at his Institute for Science and Medicine; her selections, arranged in four chronological sections, are both forceful and enlightening and full of resonant quotes, and her transitional text makes for smooth reading. The tone is openly deferential to Pauling (the book is dedicated to him); accordingly, it might appeal to fans and admirers, but its academic usefulness is minimal. Being released in tandem with Hager's book, however, it might ride on the latter's coattails.?Gregg Sapp, Univ. of Miami Lib.
Copyright 1995 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 720 pages
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster; First Edition edition (October 30, 1995)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0684809095
• ISBN-13: 978-0684809090
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.9 x 1.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #936,879 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Thomas Hager writes dramatic stories about the ways in which science and technology shape our world. After a long career in science freelancing and magazine editing, he wrote "Aging Well" with his wife Lauren Kessler (1990), then "Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling," which was named one of Library Journal's Best Sci-Tech Books of the Year, 1995. After several more Pauling-related projects and a stint as a book publisher, he wrote "The Demon Under the Microscope: From Battlefield Hospitals to Nazi Labs, One Doctor's Heroic Search for the World's First Miracle Drug" (2006), called "fascinating" (Los Angeles Times), "a grand story" (Wall St. Journal), and "surprisingly entertaining" (Entertainment Weekly). This was followed by "The Alchemy of Air: A Jewish Genius, a Doomed Tycoon, and the Discovery that Fed the World but Fueled the Rise of Hitler," a finalist for the National Academies Communications Award, Borders "Original Voices" selection, and one of Kirkus Reviews' Best Books of 2008.

Hager's research travels have taken him from the deserts of Peru and Chile to the urban heart of Tokyo, from the hushed libraries of Paris and London to the packed streets of the world's most crowded city (that would be Dhaka, Bangladesh). He is a native Oregonian, and lives in the wooded hills near Eugene.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Force of science and humanity, March 23, 2005

By 

Ashutosh Jogalekar "Sciencecat" (Cambridge, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling (Hardcover)

There are very few scientists in history who can truly be called 'giants'. Two times Nobel Prize winner Linus Pauling was undoubtedly one of them, and also a great humanitarian. In this biography, Thomas Hager brings a fine perspective to the life of this remarkable man.
Hager puts every part of Pauling's life and science in the spotlight; growing up in Oregon among difficult times without a father, attending college and university through sheer grit and determination, learning the new sciences of x-ray crystallography and quantum mechanics, and finally applying this knowledge to an amazing array of fields in chemistry, physics, biology and medicine, in the process becoming one of the greatest scientists of the century.

Pauling's life can really be divided into two parts, both of which Hager discusses in detail. In the first part, he became the foremost chemist in the world and made contributions to an almost unbelievable variety of topics; the chemical bond and quantum chemistry, inorganic and organic chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology, and medical research. In at least two of these, quantum chemistry and molecular biology, he became their founding father in the true sense of the term.
In the second part of his life, Pauling became a great humanitarian, relentlessly protesting against nuclear testing in the face of great troubles brought about by McCarthysm and the Cold War. After World War 2, Pauling's life was a constant struggle as he waged war against nuclear weapons, was accused of having Communist sympathies and denied a passport for travelling to England by the State Department (thus possibly missing out on winning the race to discover the DNA structure), and had to leave his beloved Caltech of many years because of tensions between himself and the administration. When he received the Nobel Peace prize, a prominent newspaper called it 'a weird insult from Sweden'.
In spite of all this, Pauling still found time to make the great discovery of protein structure, and make decisive contributions to molecular biology and medicine. He was the first person to describe a genetically inherited disease, sickle cell anemia, in molecular terms. This is one of the harbingers of the modern age of drug discovery and gene-therapy. Hager portrays both Pauling's scientific as well as political crusades in an excellent way. He also manages to put the man in context, and discusses the general changing political and scientific scenario of Pauling's times. This includes the beginning of 'big science', the permanent moulding of science and politics, and the coming of age of American academia and industry.

In later years, Pauling was even more bitterly criticized for his espousal of unorthodox ideas in nutrition and medicine (especially his insistence about the benefits of unusually large doses of Vitamin C as a puported cure for almost everything, from the common cold to cancer). However, the last words on his medical theories has not yet been said and research continues.
From very early on in all of Pauling's endeavors, he was constantly supported by an extraordinary woman; his wife, Ava Helen, and Hager very rightly gives due and important attention to her in this book; many times, the essential strong and silent women behind the men are forgotten and fortunately Hager does not do this.

There are many biographies of Pauling ( the ones by Serafini, Goertzel and Mead being the main ones). In its scope and comprehensivenes, Hager's is probably the best. All in all, a great read about a truly important scientist-citizen of the last century

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars a very exciting life...very well written, April 24, 2001

By 

jo (toronto. canada) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling (Hardcover)

I found this book in a used book store and bought it becasue Iwas familiar with the name Linus Pauling, but really didn't know anything about him, and because on the cover he had the rosiest cheeks I had every seen...in his 70's. After reading this book I learned how heroic this man was. How he has influenced and protected us, and the politicking and nonsense that occured to keep the world in the dark about his discoveries and genius. Having won two nobel prizes, in two separate categories, one for peace and one for chemistry, this book covers the discoveries, relationships, friendships, competitions, politics, dreams and trials of this great man, who has been added to my list of this centuries true heroes.

This book is exceptionally well written both from a scientific standpoint and a biographical standpoint. It is a meaty book and seems to cover his whole life. And what an exciting and gripping life. How many scientific biographies do you know that are page turners? I could not put this book down, and it is also one of the best written biographies I have ever read.

Highly recommended.

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars If you liked the movie, Forest Gump, you'll love this, May 5, 2003

By 

william r. ott (Montgomery Village, MD United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Force of Nature: The Life of Linus Pauling (Hardcover)

Linus Pauling loved America. Born in the USA in 1901, of humble, working parents, he was a winner of two Nobel Prizes and a witness and participant in almost all the grand events of the 21st century: the discovery of quantum physics, the gradual understanding of how chemistry works, the discovery of DNA, the development of the atomic bomb, two world wars, the cold war and McCarthyism, the emergence of big science and super-universities like Cal Tech, and the social activism of the 60s. Pauling, like the fictional character, Forest Gump, had a remarkable life in which he encountered and influenced almost all the major characters of 21st century science, politics, and society. A loving husband and father, Pauling was devoted to his wife of 60 plus years, which provides another fascinating undercurrent to his life. This is one book I was sorry to have finished -- I found it relaxing AND educational. Author Tom Hager has an enviable ability to explain complex, scientific concepts in everyday language, whether they come from the world of physics, chemistry, biology, medicine, or drug development. He expertly weaves the science in with the modern history of our country, from life in rural Oregon where Pauling was born and raised, to the capitals of the world where he influenced presidents and national leaders, to Hollywood and university campuses where his gregarious, fun-loving personality, communication ability, and liberal politics turned him into a media darling. With short, snappy chapters, this book is hard to put down.......