Letter from Linus Pauling to Corliss Lamont. February 12, 1957. Page 1  Larger Images / More Information. 2 pp.  View Transcript

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Activity Listings

• Check from AHP to Dr. L.G. Hunnicutt for $10.00. [Filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Bank Statements and Canceled Checks, February 1956-December 1957), Box #4.024, Folder #24.2] [Also filed under LP Biographical: (Business and Financial: Check Registers, 1957-1962), Box #4.076, Folder #76.1]
• Letter from Clyde A. Hutchinson, Jr., The Journal of Chemical Physics, to LP, RE: Encloses a copy of the manuscript "Towards the Placing of Amino Acid Residues on the Cage Model for Insulin" by D. Wrinch and also encloses a copy of Francis Crick's comments on the manuscript. Asks for LP's advice on the suitability of this manuscript for publication in the Journal of Chemical Physics. Calls LP's attention to the announcement concerning Letters to the Editor currently appearing in the journal. [Filed under LP Correspondence: (W: Individual Correspondence. (Williams, J. W. - Wyman)), Box #438, Folder #438.12]
• Letter from Curt P. Richter, The Institute for Advanced Study, to LP RE: Sends LP a copy of a paper called "Hormones and Rhythms in Animals and Man," at the request of Dr. Oppenheimer. Asks if LP would read the manuscript and provide Richter with suggestions for further work on this problem from LP's angle. [Letter from LP to Richter, March 5, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (R:Correspondence, 1955-1959), #341.3]
• Letter from Dr. A. Hoffer, Director, Psychiatric Research, Department of Public Health, University Hospital, Saskatchewan, to LP RE: Requests an opportunity to visit his lab while in LA March 12-14. Expresses an interest in psychiatric research from a biochemical viewpoint. [Letter from Mrs. Wulf to Dr. Hoffer February 22, 1957, Letter from LP to Dr. Hoffer February 28, 1957, Letter from Dr. Hoffer to LP March 25, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (Hoffer, Abram, 1957), #160.1]
• Letter from Dr. D.C. Bradley, Department of Chemistry, Birkbeck College, to LP RE: Asks if he will be able to visit LP and his staff during a planned visit to the Los Angeles area. [Letter from LP to Dr. Bradley February 27, 1957, Letter from Dr. Bradley to LP March 22, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (B:Correspondence, 1957), #38.3]
• Letter from Dr. R.A. McConnell, Department of Biophysics, University of Pittsburgh to LP RE: Encloses a copy of his article "An Experiment With Dice" which was published in a shorter form under the title, "Wishing With Dice." Notifies him that the April issue of American Scientist is publishing one of his articles, which addresses the Psi phenomena and will offer reasons to justify LP's feelings that he should not spend time researching it, but also will offer reasons that other scientists should. [Letter from Dr. McConnell to LP May 15, 1953, Letter from LP to Dr. McConnell February 4, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (M: Correspondence, 1957), #257.2]
• Letter from E.C. Watson, Acting President, California Institute of Technology to Dr. C. Lalor Burdick, Director, The Lalor Foundation, cc: LP RE: Acknowledges receipt of the Foundation's $1000 gift to the institute and thanks them for it. [Filed under LP Correspondence: (Lalor Foundation, 1956-1957, 1979), #219.1]
• Letter from Harlow W. Ades, University of Texas, to LP RE: Regretfully informs LP that the Department of Medicine is leaving on May 4 or 5, so LP's proposed dates for visiting would not work very well. Give several other time periods that would work fine and asks if any of those would suit LP's schedule. [Letters from LP to Ades February 7, 1957, February 15, 1957] [Filed under LP Speeches: 1957s.20]
• Letter from LP to Dr. Corliss Lamont. [Letter from Dr. Lamont to LP October 31, 1956, Letter from Dr. Lamont to LP May 13, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (Lamont, Corliss, 1956-1957, 1960-1962, 1966, 1980, 1984, 1987), #212.5]

  12 February 1957

  Dr. Corliss Lamont

  450 Riverside Drive

  New York 27, N.Y.

  Dear Dr. Lamont:

  I apologize for having waited so long since your letter of 31 October arrived, before answering it. I think that I put it to one side in order that I might see if my feeling about it changed with time; it has not done so.

  I suppose that I am not interested in metaphysics. At any rate, I find it hard to see any significance to the discussion on the ultimates of existence that you have sent me. Whenever I try to pin one of your statements down, its meaning begins to elude me.

  First, I judge that you use the word substance in a much broader way than I do - to include not only matter but also radiant energy.

  I am not sure that it is justified to say that all substance has spatial extension, or whether the statement has any meaning. We know as a matter of experience that we can describe points in space by giving values of three coordinates, relative to some sort of axes. An electron interacts with other electrons or particles of different sorts in its neighborhood, the interaction depending upon the relative positions assigned to these particles. Whether the electron is to be considered as having spatial extension or not I do not know. If two electrons come very close to one another, within a million millionth of an inch, their interaction is not simply given by the coulomb law. The electron cannot be described, however, as being a small sphere with a certain radius.

  You say that substance is always in movement, in flux. It is dynamically active. I do not know what this statement means. An electron in interstellar space, far from any other matter, may perhaps be described as not in movement - at any rate, it might be taken as the center of a coordinate system, with other particles in movement relative to it.

  In your discussion of form you mention as examples a stone, a tree, a man, or something else. I suppose that you are thinking of what I would describe as structure - the way that atoms arrange themselves, or that electrons and atomic nuclei arrange themselves, or that nucleons inside of a nucleus arrange themselves. I would then ask whether you feel that it would be proper to say that an electron itself has form or pattern. So far as we are aware, it does not have any structure.

  Does it mean anything to say that all objects and events have temporal duration? Time is clearly a part of the world. If we accept this as a fact, then does your statement have additional meaning? I don't understand potentiality or power.

  Under causality, I might quibble by saying that sometimes a sample of water can be lowered to temperatures far below 32° F without freezing. It is customary to say that such a sample of water is free of nuclei of ice crystals. It is pretty difficult to find scientific laws that are completely deterministic for actual systems. I am not sure, however, that there is room for human freedom in this lack of causality.

  I suppose that you must conclude that my inability to understand metaphysics makes it not worth while for you to continue to write to me about it. I can't get my feet on the ground, in my effort to discuss your essay. The words do not mean enough to me. Please let me know if you want me to expand on any points mentioned above.

  I was talking with Max Mason a few months ago about philosophy. It turned out that both he and I have been unable to understand philosophy at all. It seemed to him, as to me, that it was based upon undefined words, which we were not able to accept as significant.

  Sincerely yours,

  Linus Pauling:W

• Letter from LP to Dr. Joseph R. Royce, Department of Psychology at the University of Redlands, RE: Returns Royce's manuscript on Factor Theory and Genetics. Discusses how it is difficult for him to be interested in the topic because the systems which Royce is interested in are so complicated that it is hard to test his ideas. Tells Royce that the progress which can be made regarding the field of genetic constitution of intelligence will be a result of the study of large effects determined by a single gene, instead of trying to analyze the mass effects of many genes. Points out an error Royce made in his manuscript about the effect phenylpyruvic oligophrenia has on urine. [Letter from Royce to LP, December 10, 1956] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (R:Correspondence, 1955-1959), #341.3]
• Letter from LP to Dr. Zhivko Angeluscheff RE: Response to Dr. Angeluscheff request that LP look review one of his articles, LP is declining because of a lack of experience in the field of Otolaryngology. [Letter from Dr Angeluscheff to LP November 6, 1956] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (A: Correspondence, 1957), #12.23]
• Letter from LP to Mr. Cass Canfield, Harper and Brothers, RE: Tells Canfield that he will be available for a meeting in Pasadena from February 26th to Match 10th. [Letter from Canfield to LP, February 5, 1957] [Letter from Canfield to LP, February 19, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (Szilard, Leo: Report Correspondence), Box #372, Folder #372.1]
• Letter from LP to Professor Arthur Stoll RE: Wishes him a happy birthday and expresses his happiness at being able to have a part in the celebrations by writing an article for the Jubilee Volume. Reiterates that the article is only speculative but hopes someday it will become experimental. Thanks him for the volumes of his collected papers and looks forward to reading them again. [Letter from Professor Stoll to LP February 5, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (S: Correspondence, 1957), #380.1]
• Letter from LP to The Registrar, The University of Chicago RE: Requests information on a Mr. George H. Fisher, whether he received a degree from the University in Mechanical Engineering in 1915 and whether he received any other degree from them. [Filed under LP Correspondence: (C: Correspondence, 1957), #74.25]
• Letter from LP to the Registrar at the University of Chicago, RE: Informs them that he has a statement saying that Mr. George H. Fisher, now in Los Angeles, received a degree in mechanical engineering from the University of Chicago in 1915. Says that he was a member of the staff of the University of Chicago in 1941 and remember that the University has never given degrees in engineering. Asks if they can tell him if Fisher received a degree in mechanical engineering, or any degree at all, from the University of Chicago in 1915. [Letter from the Registrar at the University of Chicago to LP, February 22, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (W: Correspondence, 1953-1959), Box #444, Folder #444.5]
• Letter from Ludwik Rajchman to LP RE: Tells LP that Professor P. Biquard has suggested that two special issues of the Journal of the World Federation of Scientific Workers be published under the title of Science and Mankind. Encloses a draft plan of one of the journals dealing with science and health. Asks for LP's opinion on the draft and his suggestions for authors to be invited. [Letter from LP to Rajchman, March 5, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (R:Correspondence, 1955-1959), #341.3]
• Memo from LP to Robert Nathan RE: Requests that he get his research on veatchine ready to publish as soon as possible. [Filed under LP Correspondence: (N: Correspondence, 1957), #288.1]
• Memorandum from Dr. Richard W. Lippman to LP RE: Discusses Armstong's data on phneylketonuria and tells LP that he thinks it is worthwhile to determine the serum phenylalanine level in patients at Pacific State Hospital. [Memorandum from LP to Lippman February 15, 1957] [Filed under LP Science: Orthomolecular Medicine and Mental Health: Materials re: Ford Foundation grants for the study of mental disorders, 1955-1956: Box #11.089, Folder #89.14]
• Note from Mrs. Edwin O. Grahn to LP RE: Writes LP to provide her family data and the case history of her son who has been diagnosed with various mental conditions, chronic encephalopathy the latest diagnosis. [Letter from LP to Grahn February 28, 1957] [Filed under LP Science: Orthomolecular Medicine and Mental Health: Materials re: Ford Foundation grants for the study of mental disorders, 1955-1956: Box #11.089, Folder 89.7]
• Telegram from Herman Mark Meyer Weisgal to LP, RE: Tells LP that the Weizmann Institute in considering having a conference in New York on June 14th for 2-3 days, which would be similar to the London meeting the previous July. Asks LP to reply by telegram to New York to let them know if he would be able to attend. Informs LP that all expenses will be paid. Handwritten note at bottom by LP says, "Present plans would permit my attending conference 14 to 16 June." [Telegram from LP to the Weizmann Institute, February 13, 1957] [Filed under LP Correspondence: (W: Organizational Correspondence. (Wa - Wo)), Box #441, Folder #441.4]