"Satisfaction of one's curiosity is one of the greatest sources of happiness in life" - Linus Pauling
This is a quote taken from one of my favourite scientists, Linus Pauling. I feel it accurately sums up what I so enjoy about science and what first got me interested; finding out answers to those niggling questions about the way the world works.
Pauling is one of only a handful of multiple Nobel Prize winners, not only for his genius but also for his activism. He was awarded his first Nobel Prize in chemistry in 1954 for "his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances". His revolutionary ideas still shape the way we think about chemical bonding and structure. He was also only narrowly pipped to the post in solving the structure of DNA, an achievement credited to two scientists, James D. Watson and Francis Crick.
His second Nobel Prize came shortly after in 1962 in the form of a peace prize. He was awarded the honour for "his campaign against nuclear weapons testing". Though involved in creating arms technology in the early stages of his career, Pauling later spoke tirelessly against the use of nuclear weapons.
Finally, what I love about Pauling is his strange obsession with vitamin C! He would take 3g a day (the recommended daily intake is only 10's of milligrams) in order to fend off illnesses ranging from the common cold to cancer. Not only his brilliance in the science field, but also his eccentricities permeate our thoughts today as there has been continuing advocacy, but also controversy, of this so called 'megadosing'.
Eccentric or not, Pauling is certainly one of the most influential figures in science of the 20th century, something which we can all aspire to.
