Peter Pauling

Peter Pauling. He was an American-born crystallographer and molecular biologist, best known for his scientific contributions and as the son of the renowned chemist and peace activist Linus Pauling. His career was spent primarily in the United Kingdom, where he conducted research on the structures of proteins and nucleic acids. His life was deeply intertwined with the scientific legacy of his father, yet he carved out his own path in the field of structural biology.

Early life and education

Born in Pasadena, California, he was the second of four children of Linus Pauling and Ava Helen Pauling. His early environment was steeped in science, with frequent visitors to the family home including notable figures like J. Robert Oppenheimer and other leading physicists and chemists. He attended Pasadena City College before transferring to the California Institute of Technology, where he earned a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry. He then moved to England to pursue doctoral studies at the University of Cambridge under the supervision of the Nobel laureate Max Perutz at the Medical Research Council Laboratory of Molecular Biology, a hub for pioneering work on hemoglobin and protein crystallography.

Career and research

After completing his PhD, he remained in the United Kingdom, taking a position as a lecturer in crystallography at University College London. His research focused on applying X-ray crystallography to biological molecules, contributing to the broader effort to understand protein structure and function. He later worked at the Institute of Cancer Research in London, investigating the structures of compounds related to DNA and RNA. Throughout his career, he collaborated with several key scientists in the DNA race era, including Francis Crick and James Watson, though his own published work remained more specialized within the crystallographic community.

Personal life

In 1956, he married Julia Parker, an English artist, and the couple had five children. He became a naturalized British citizen, and the family lived for many years in London before eventually moving to a rural home in Wales. He was known to be a private individual who enjoyed sailing and the outdoors, deliberately maintaining a distance from the intense public spotlight that followed his father. His interests extended to history and literature, and he was a devoted family man.

Relationship with Linus Pauling

His relationship with his famous father was complex and multifaceted. He greatly admired Linus Pauling's scientific achievements, particularly his work on the alpha helix and chemical bonding, but also felt the considerable weight of his legacy. Professionally, he provided crucial, though private, commentary on his father's later, controversial model for the structure of DNA, which was ultimately incorrect. Their correspondence, especially during the intense period of the DNA structure discovery, reveals a candid scientific dialogue. Despite political differences, particularly regarding his father's activism against nuclear weapons testing and the Vietnam War, they maintained a close, if sometimes strained, familial bond.

Later years and death

In his later years, he lived semi-retired in Wales, continuing to consult on scientific matters and enjoying time with his grandchildren. He occasionally participated in historical reflections on the molecular biology revolution, offering personal insights into the work of Rosalind Franklin, the Cavendish Laboratory, and the Nobel Prize-winning discovery of the DNA double helix. He died of cancer in Wales on 28 January 2003. His papers and correspondence are held in the archives of Oregon State University, alongside the vast collection of his father's work.

Category:American crystallographers Category:American molecular biologists Category:1931 births Category:2003 deaths