Linus Pauling is the only person ever to win two unshared Nobel Prizes. His 1954 prize for chemistry was given in recognition of his work on the nature of the chemical bond, while the 1963 Nobel Peace Prize was awarded for his efforts to bring about an end to the atmospheric testing of nuclear weapons. Pauling has made important contributions to a number of fields, including the structure of proteins and other biologically important molecules, mineralogy, the nature of mental disorders, nuclear structure, and nutrition.

Linus Carl Pauling was born in Portland, Oregon, on February 28, 1901. He was the first of three children born to Herman Henry William Pauling and Lucy Isabelle (Darling) Pauling, usually called Belle. Herman Pauling was a druggist who struggled continuously to make a decent living for his family. With his business in Portland failing, Herman moved his family to Oswego, seven miles south of Portland, in...