两次诺奖得主鲍林为何失掉第三次诺奖

 

Why Linus Pauling failed to win the DNA race?

 

Linus Carl Pauling (1901-1994) is a great scientist as well as a great humanist. Up till now, he is the only person who has or had won two un-shared Nobel prizes: the first one in chemistry in 1954 and second one in peace in 1962.

 

As a matter of fact, Pauling had stood very close to a third Nobel prize – he almost had the chance to unveil the correct structure of DNA and to win a Nobel prize in medicine or physiology. However, very unfortunate for himself, he missed it.

 

Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon; and Oregon State University (OSU) is his Alma Mater. Now OSU hosts a special collection about Pauling, and among this collection there is a narrative titled “A Document History: The Race for DNA”(http://osulibrary.orst.edu/specialcollections/coll/pauling/dna/).  Its introduction starts like this: “Utilizing over 300 scanned documents, photographs, audio clips and video excerpts, this website narrates the breathless details of the pursuit of the discovery of the double helix structure of DNA. Scattered throughout the project are images of a number of very important and extremely rare items, most of which are held within the Oregon State University Libraries' Ava Helen and Linus Pauling Papers, and many of which have not been previously displayed. It is expected that this website will serve as a primary reference point for individuals interested in the history of DNA.”

 

The conclusion of this narrative concerning why Paul failed to win the DNA race is as follows: “He rushed, and he thought he could get away with it because of his pride in his own ability. He wanted the prize, he gambled, and he lost.” (http://osulibrary.orst.edu/specialcollections/coll/pauling/dna/narrative/page33.html)

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