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Letter from Linus Pauling to Gerald Oster. February 16, 1953.
Pauling writes to address an apparent contradiction between the form factors for the helical protein structures developed by he and Corey, versus those developed by Oster.

Transcript

16 February 1953

Dr. Gerald Oster

Polytechnic Institute of Brooklyn

99 Livingston Street

Brooklyn 2, New York

Dear Dr. Oster:

Thanks for your letter of 3 February.

The point that you raise - that you do not feel that the equatorial spacings will be markedly altered whether one assumes seven parallel rods or six rods twisted around a central rod — is an interesting one. I would be inclined to agree with you, except for a contradictory fact. Crick has written that our expression is the first term in the complete expression for the seven-strand helical cable, which he has evaluated, and, since our expression differs from yours, the two approximate form factors do seem to be different.

I am interested to learn about the work that you are carrying on.

Sincerely yours,

Linus Pauling:W

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