The Crystal Structure of Molybdenite. Reprinted from the Journal of the American Chemical Society, Vol. XLV, No. 6. June, 1923.

First edition, offprint issue, signed by Pauling on the front wrapper. This was Pauling's first published scientific paper, written while he was a graduate student at the Gates Chemical Laboratory, California Institute of Technology. It was an early contribution to X-ray crystallography, a discipline that was then only a decade old. Dickinson (1894-1945), Pauling's doctoral supervisor, specialized in X-ray crystallography and was the first person to receive a PhD from Caltech. He and Pauling used a combination of Laue photographs, spectral (Bragg-type) measurements, and space-group theory to establish that the molybdenum coordination was a trigonal prism and that the structure was built from layers. The layered structure accounts for its use as a solid lubricant, a function it continues to fulfil in industry today. "Knowing of Pauling's interest in molecular structure, [Arthur Amos] Noyes believed that Dickinson was the most appropriate advisor for his graduate work. It didn't take Pauling long to appreciate the complexities of diffraction analysis. He worked for two months with 15 different crystals, trying to find just the right one to analyze. Eventually he was 'rescued by Dickinson', who brought him a specimen of molybdenite. After Dickinson prepared the specimen for Pauling, teacher and student worked together to determine its structure. The paper was the first of more than 900 that Pauling was to produce in the next 70 years" (Newton, p. 23). David E. Newton, Linus Pauling, 1994. Octavo, pp. 8. Original green printed wrappers, wire-stitched. Wrappers unevenly toned: a near-fine copy.…