Wednesday is Linus Pauling's Birthday
In case you didn't know who he was, here is Wikipedia's article on Linus Pauling.
I'll be in the Likwid Lounge at New City after 20:00, if any of you would like to join me in lifting a glass or two or even three to the memory of this amazing man and fellow atheist. ... :-)
Until recently, I wasn't aware that he had done anything other than advocate the use of vitamin supplements. That was actually how I first learned about him. I've been taking vitamin supplements for about twenty years now, and I am exceptionally healthy.
I'm amazed at the number of subjects I have an interest in that he made important contributions to. He was one of the founders of modern molecular biology, which I had to study for plant physiology. He was the one who discovered that complex proteins are molecular machines made up of alpha helixes and beta sheets composed of amino acid peptides. After, applying quantum mechanics to other problems in organic chemistry to he went on to apply it to the structure of the atomic nucleus. I also have an interest in geology, and his theoretical work on nuclear chemistry explains why the elements uranium and thorium, used in radiometric dating, decay specifically by alpha particle emission. And lastly, I remember as a child when above ground nuclear testing was banned because the radioactive isotope strontium-90, present in nuclear fallout, is metabolized by living organisms in the same way that calcium is and has a half-life of about 29 years. I had no idea he was responsible for all those things.
I'll be in the Likwid Lounge at New City after 20:00, if any of you would like to join me in lifting a glass or two or even three to the memory of this amazing man and fellow atheist. ... :-)
Until recently, I wasn't aware that he had done anything other than advocate the use of vitamin supplements. That was actually how I first learned about him. I've been taking vitamin supplements for about twenty years now, and I am exceptionally healthy.
I'm amazed at the number of subjects I have an interest in that he made important contributions to. He was one of the founders of modern molecular biology, which I had to study for plant physiology. He was the one who discovered that complex proteins are molecular machines made up of alpha helixes and beta sheets composed of amino acid peptides. After, applying quantum mechanics to other problems in organic chemistry to he went on to apply it to the structure of the atomic nucleus. I also have an interest in geology, and his theoretical work on nuclear chemistry explains why the elements uranium and thorium, used in radiometric dating, decay specifically by alpha particle emission. And lastly, I remember as a child when above ground nuclear testing was banned because the radioactive isotope strontium-90, present in nuclear fallout, is metabolized by living organisms in the same way that calcium is and has a half-life of about 29 years. I had no idea he was responsible for all those things.