Linus Carl Pauling - Part II

June 14, 2010

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The same as his friend Lloyd Jeffress, Linus also built a small laboratory in the basement of his house where he continued to conduct chemistry experiments of his own borrowing the chemicals, equipment and material needed for his experiments from a small chemical laboratory at an abandoned steel plant named Oregon Iron and Steel Company in Oswego. He could do this borrow-activity because Linus's grandfather was a night watchman at a nearby plant.

Linus set up Palmon Laboratories with an older friend, Lloyd Simon in the latter's basement. They intended to offer their services in performing butterfat samplings at cheap prices approaching local dairies. The business rapidly ended because dairymen had no confidence in these two young entrepreneurs.

In the fall of 1916, he began his last year at Washington &#&High School&#&. Although Linus was a 15-year-old &#&high school&#& senior and had enough credits to enter Oregon Agricultural College, he was denied the permission to take the two semesters of American history together (since they are sequential). They needed them to obtain a &#&high-school&#& diploma.

But shortly before the semester's ended, Linus applied for admission to Oregon Agricultural College. He had sufficient &#&high-school&#& credits to be admitted (and a diploma is not necessary).

It may be curious but his &#&high school&#&, Washington &#&High School&#& in Portland, awarded him the diploma 45 years later, after he had won two Nobel Prizes.

During the following summer he got a good job in a machine shop that manufactured freight elevators. His boss was so well impressed with him he offered to double his monthly initial paycheck if he stayed working there. His mother wanted him to accept the offer, but Linus insisted on going to Oregon Agricultural College.

Linus received a letter of admission from Oregon Agricultural College in September 1917 and he began to study chemical engineering.

In fact, because of living such difficult times after his father's death, while he was a young adolescent Linus Pauling had to work very hard, doing odd jobs for continuing his education. His mother was under financial strain, so she wanted him to stay at home and help her financially as she still had two young children to rise.

Perhaps Linus wasn't a fortunate young boy, he had to arrange money himself for his studies, but he was brilliant, brave and persistent.