Letter from Peter Pauling to Linus Pauling. April 13, 1953. Page 1  Larger Images / More Information. 2 pp.  View Transcript

<   April  1953   > S M T W T F S       1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26 27 28 29 30     Travel: New York

Activity Listings

• AHP travels from Los Angeles to London, meeting LP.
• AHP writes cheque to: Aletha Courtney amount: $89.95 [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #4.022, Folder #1]
• AHP writes cheque to: Byron Hopper amount: $25.00 [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #4.022, Folder #1]
• AHP writes cheque to: I. Magnin & Co. amount: $13.51 [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #4.022, Folder #1]
• AHP writes cheque to: I. Magnin & Co. amount: $67.48 [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #4.022, Folder #1]
• AHP writes cheque to: Manor Market amount: $100.00 [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #4.022, Folder #1]
• AHP writes cheque to: Susie Perry [Boormans Market] amount: $45.00 [Filed under LP Biographical: Box #4.022, Folder #1]
• Article from the New York Times, "24 Senators Urged Product Rejected by Astin, Aide Says," discusses Astin case. [Filed under LP Science: Box 14.023, Folder 23.5]
• LP attends the Ninth Triennial Conference, Institut International de Chimie Solvay, Brussels, Belgium. [Filed under LP Speeches: 1953s.4]
• LP flies from Brussels to London, and then from London to New York.
• Letter from Francis Crick to LP. [Filed under LP Science: Box 9.001, Folder 1.38]

  UNIVERSITY OF CAMBRIDGE DEPARTMENT OP PHYSICS

  CAVENDISH LABORATORY

  Free School Lane, Cambridge.

  14th April 1953

  Professor Linus Pauling,

  Gates & Crellin laboratory,

  Pasadena 4, California,

  U.S.A.

  Dear Professor Pauling,

  I hope you were not puzzled because we said very little about coiled-coils when you were here, but your letter to Perutz about them only reached us on the day after you left.

  My recollection of our conversation in the summer is very similar to yours, except that, as I recall it, it was slightly longer than you have remembered it. In particular I touched on knobs-into-holes packing and the possibility of a 7-strand cable. You pointed out to me that this might explain the 27 Å equatorial reflection.

  It was natural, therefore, that when Peter told us you were working on coiled-coils that the idea should get round that I had suggested the idea to you. When your Nature article was eventually published it was clear to me that there were very little grounds, if any, for such a belief. In particular you had suggested a definite model, whereas I had not, and, more important, you had put forward a different reason for the coiling.

  In my view the idea that the α-helix might be inclined is an obvious one, and it is only a small, step from that to the idea of coiling. I attach much more importance to the reasons underlying the coiling, and the proof that a coiled-coil gives both 5.1 and 1.5 Å reflections on the meridian. On these points we have followed independent paths.

  On reflection I think it might have made things easier if you had let me know you were writing a paper on the idea, so that I would have had the opportunity of putting forward my ideas simultaneously However, as things turned out, thanks to the many channels of communic-ation between Caltech. and the Cavendish, this is effectively what happened.

  We very much enjoyed your visit here. Watson and I would be most interested to learn what you feel about our D.N.A. structure when you have had time to digest the idea and the experimental data.

  [handwritten] Yours sincerely, Francis Crick

• Letter from H.B. Hass of the Sugar Research Foundation, Inc., to LP RE: Asks LP for his opinion of a book Familial Nonreagenic Food Allergy by Dr. Arthur F. Coca that he is to review. Is of the opinion that it is poorly written and translated, but asks LP for a second opinion. [Note in LP's hand in lower left: "Old, afraid to go out of house." [Letter of response from LP to Dr. Hass May 21, 1953] [Filed under H: Correspondence 1953, Box #166, Folder #4]
• Letter from Henry Allen Moe, Guggenheim Memorial Foundation, to LP RE: After reconsidering, asks that his previous letters to LP not be forwarded back. [Related letter from Moe to Wulf April 10, 1953]. [Filed under LP Science: Box 14.015, Folder 15.1].
• Letter from L.A. DuBridge to Dr. Frederick L. Stone cc: LP RE: Thank you note for positive comments regarding the Commission on Higher Education report. [Letter in response to Frederick to DuBridge] [Filed under: LP Biographical, Box 1.030, Folder 30.4]
• Letter from Mrs. M. A. Kellar, Secretary to Dr. W. H. Taylor, to LP RE: acknowledges LP's letter, and writes that Dr. Taylor is in Spain. [Letter from LP to Dr. W. H. Taylor March 30, 1953, letter from W. H. Taylor to LP May 5, 1953] [Filed under LP Correspondence: Box #405, Folder #8, file: (Taylor, W. H.)].
• Letter from Sister Marie Augustine to LP RE: enquires about some research that LP mentioned he and Dr. Niemann had underway on the topic of inhibition of enzyme activity, in their article "Molecular Architecture and Biological Reactions." Requests references to where she might find further literature on the topic. [Letter of response from LP to Sister Marie Augustine May 21, 1953] [Filed under M: Correspondence 1953, Box #256, Folder #4]
• Letter from Theodore T. Puck, Ph.D. to LP RE: requests that LP stop over in Denver on his way home from the National Academy meeting in order to give a seminar before their faculty group of the U. of Colorado. [Letter of response from LP to Prof. Puck April 20, 1953] [Filed under LP Correspondence: Box #313, Folder #1].