Linus Pauling won the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of complex substances.
Pauling combined quantum mechanics, structural chemistry, and experimental measurements to explain why atoms form particular bonds and molecular shapes. His work helped clarify ionic and covalent bonding, electronegativity, resonance, and the relationship between bond strength and bond length. His 1939 book, The Nature of the Chemical Bond, became one of the most influential chemistry texts of the twentieth century.
Pauling's research also produced the Pauling electronegativity scale, which compares how strongly atoms attract electrons in a chemical bond. The scale remains widely used in introductory and advanced chemistry.
His chemistry Nobel Prize is sometimes confused with his later peace award. Pauling won the 1962 Nobel Peace Prize for opposing nuclear weapons testing, making him the only person to receive two unshared Nobel Prizes. The 1954 award was specifically for chemistry, not for his later political work.