November 4, 1937

Professor Roger Adams

Department of Chemistry

University of Illinois

Urbana, Illinois

Dear Professor Adams:

I have received a letter from Dr. Helmholz in answer to my question to him as to whether or not he would be interested in the instructorship in your Department, with the understanding that he devote his attention to the study of the rare earths. Dr. Helmholz has written that he is interested in applying for the position and that he believes that many worthwhile investigations could be carried out with the rare earth material. He would, however, like to know what the teaching duties connected with the position are. May I suggest that you write directly to him at the California Institute of Technology.

I believe that Dr. Helmholz would be a very able man in the rare earth field. His interests are in the structure of inorganic substances. At Johns Hopkins he worked on the electron affinities of atoms and the lattice energies of ionic crystals. In Pasadena he has investigated various inorganic substances, including recently the paraperiodates, and he is now studying bromates, to see if any hydrated form of bromic acid exists.

With best regards, I am

Sincerely yours,

Linus Pauling

LP:HB