Though the 1970s began robustly with Linus' receipt of the Lenin Peace Prize from the Soviet government, the decade was more generally defined by a slowing in the pace of the Paulings peace work. At last, they were finally learning how to do less. They retired to their lovely house overlooking the Pacific at Big Sur, brought in electricity and phone service, expanded and modernized it, and installed a swimming pool. Pauling started his own research institute devoted primarily to investigating the properties of Vitamin C and other nutrients, and began devoting more of his energy once again to science.

Nonetheless, the Paulings did continue to speak out forcefully on a number of issues. In the early part of the decade, Linus and Ava Helen remained staunch and highly public critics of U.S. military incursions in Vietnam and Cambodia. Later, as the hot war in Southeast Asia began to cool, the Paulings increasingly turned their attention to the brewing Cold War between the United States and the Soviet Union, with specific focus upon the stockpiling of nuclear weapons by both countries. And throughout the 1970s, both Linus and Ava Helen cautioned their audiences against the potential health hazards of nuclear energy and its resultant wastes, advocating instead for increased reliance upon clean and renewable sources of energy.