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Linus Pauling
1901–1994 · United States · 20th century
Nobel Chemistry 1954Nobel Peace 1962
Explained the nature of the chemical bond, introduced electronegativity and hybridization, and later campaigned against nuclear weapons testing.
Nobel Prize work
Fields
Related topics
Periodic table and periodic trends
Why the periodic table has its shape, and how atomic size, ionization energy and electronegativity change across it.
Ionic, covalent and metallic bonding
Compare ionic attraction, shared electron pairs and delocalised metallic electrons. Bonding models explain why solids conduct, melt or fracture differently.
Molecular geometry (VSEPR), orbital hybridization
Predicting the shape of a molecule from the repulsion between electron pairs around the central atom.