As a prominent and well-known scientist, Linus Pauling significantly influenced the politics of his time, and set a precedent for scientists being involved politics. He was particularly concerned about the health effects of nuclear fallout, and was one of the most outspoken scientists against nuclear testing. He was a major proponent of the 1963 Nuclear Test Ban Treaty which abolished testing of nuclear weapons under water, in space, and above ground. The official Nuclear Test Ban Treaty used much of the same language that Pauling had used in various writings and letters to leaders such as the Soviet Premier Khrushchev and US President Kennedy. This was noted by the Nobel Academy when they awarded Pauling his Peace Prize, and was the major reason he won it. However, Pauling faced a significantly more chilled attitude towards his peace work in the US. All of his peace and anti-nuclear speeches and protests went contrary to the government policy of continuing the Arms Race during the Cold War. Due to this, he was repeatedly investigated by the government and had his passport revoked several times, preventing him from traveling.
Linus Pauling's research also had some economic effects. As a result of Pauling’s discoveries about molecular structure, many new medicines were developed to treat molecular diseases, such as Sickle-Cell Disease, which Pauling worked on directly. Pauling also promoted the health benefits of vitamins, and testified in front of a Senate subcommittee on how vitamins should be regulated. This led to vitamins being mostly unrestricted, and allowed for a large market for vitamins. In addition, since Pauling was so well-known, his positive opinions about the health effects of vitamins reached the masses, leading to widespread use of supplements and creating a lucrative market for them. Pauling with his two Nobel medals
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Picture of an ICBM (Intercontinental Ballistic Missile) used to deliver nuclear payloads being tested.
Perhaps the greatest tribute to Linus Pauling’s life is that his achievements left as indelible an impression on society as they did on the scientific community. His discoveries as a chemist led to the emergence of molecular biology, a field that would transform the way humans view health. Instead of viewing disease as entirely the product of viruses and bacteria, scientists began to understand the molecular and genetic bases of cancer, diabetes, and other universal ailments. Genetics, an offshoot of molecular biology, has revolutionized health care, while also influencing forensics, family planning, and even psychology and education.
Perhaps even more significantly, Pauling’s activism gave leadership and credibility to an anti-nuclear movement that had previously been associated with counterculture students, preventing it from crumbling under intense pressure from conservative military hawks, the government, and the media. Far from the attention-seeking celebrity activists of today, Pauling utterly devoted himself to halting the spread of nuclear weapons during the late 1950s and early 1960s, marching in and delivering speeches at anti-nuclear protests, performing calculations to show the danger of nuclear proliferation, and circulating international petitions among scientists to call for an end to nuclear testing in the atmosphere. With these efforts, Pauling brought science into American politics, and forced statesmen to consider the effects of their policies on the environment and on public health. Today, science is at the core of political issues such as climate change, energy independence, and stem-cell research, but only because Pauling and fellow scientists who emulated him actively confronted policy-makers with the scientific implications of the nuclear arms race. Moreover, Pauling further strove to educate the public on pressing scientific matters, and became the leading scientific communicator of his era. As a result, the public began to view scientists as innovators and reformers, in contrast to their previous stereotype as eccentric eggheads. Thus, with Linus Pauling, science became the cutting-edge driver of progress in society that it is today. |