2 May 1953
Professor Linus Pauling,
California Institute of Technology.
U.S.A.
Dear Pauling,
I have just heard finally from Vold to the effect
that
"....Budget hearings for determination of next year's program have
just been completed and, although we are indeed authorized to appoint
one new faculty member, it is at too junior a level for a man of
your standing and previous experience. Please accept my apologies...."
In short, just as you said, and I had been forewarned by our conversation. I would prefer it this way to a barely adequate
offer which I might have been tempted to accept with subsequent disillusionment.
I have been advised to put in an application for the vacant Chown Research Professorship of Chemistry at Queen's University,
Kingston, Ontario, Canada, and have done so. The research programme I have given is similar to the one you have already except
that I have enlarged it to include work on non-biological macromolecules and colloidal systems, and to embrace a varied lot
of applications of X-ray methods in the field of physical chemistry generally.
In this application, I have not presumed to give your name as a referee but I should, nevertheless, be extremely grateful
if you would write a short letter to the Principal of Queen's University saying that you understand that I am a candidate
and then adding any brief remarks about my recent work, with which you are acquainted, that you may care to make. Such
a letter, although of a much less formal nature than a proper reference, would certainly help me greatly. As I applied rather
late, I should be grateful if you would write straight away, if you feel inclined to do so at all. I do hope you will.
As you will probably have gathered, I am at rather an awkward stage of my career, and your kindness to me personally coupled
with your interest in my work, has greatly heartened me. Believe me, I am very grateful.
I regret that we did not have more time to discuss technical matters when you passed through London.
We are nearing the final stage of writing up the protein work and I believe I mentioned to you that we are in no doubt that
we can distinguish α 1 from α2 , experimentally and theoretically. Cytochrome-c is α2, so, apparently, is myoglobin. If true,
this is a most interesting result because, as haemoglobin is α 1, myoglobin cannot be a simple fraction of haemoglobin, as
has been suggested. We have also shown that, in calf thymus nucleoprotein, the histone is present in normal form. In other
words, we are dealing with a simple addition complex (this is not re-constituted material) and the idea that the polypeptide
chains are wrapped around the nucleic acid is at variance with our results on this substance. By the way, we have some
good data on nucleic acids of various sorts. We first worked on them a long time ago but shelved the investigation. It
should be possible to decide between your 3-helix structure and the less precisely defined 2-helix structure of the various
English people. Of the two, I must say that I prefer theirs as it is more flexible and labile; also the phosphate groups are
on the outside and there seems to be good chemical evidence for this. Nevertheless, your structure is most convincing from
the packing point-of-view and it would not surprise me if both types of structure exist under different conditions. The
essential feature in this molecule, to my mind, is that is does not have a singular structure but changes with environmental
conditions - hence, life.
Well, it has been good to write of these things as well as of my career problems. I am looking forward enormously to seeing
you again. I shall be at Stockholm so that we may have an opportunity there.
[handwritten] With sincere good wishes,
Yours truly[?],
Dennis Riley
