On Wednesday, April 26, 1989 at 6:00 p.m. Linus Carl Pauling, research professor, delivered the Plenary Address for the MRS Spring Meeting held in San Diego, California. He was introduced by John Baglin, Past President of MRS with the following words: “Linus Pauling…scientist, philosopher, and a thinker, whose fearless, pioneering research has made and continues to make vital and fundamental contributions to the sciences of chemistry, physics, mineralogy, biology and medicine. His work, frequently controversial, has stimulated thought and debate and research, promoting, indeed, the healthiest kind of scholarly activity within these many disciplines.”

With these thoughts and many more in my head 1 set out for the airport the previous afternoon to pick up Linus Pauling. I was about to meet someone who had deeply affected my scientific career from my early days as an undergraduate through the most important and fundamental aspects of 15 years of research. I was aware of almost all of Pauling's prizes and awards, but I couldn't quite remember what he won his second Nobel Prize for (he won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1962 for presenting a petition to the Secretary-General of the United Nations to ban atom bomb tests), and it was while I was wondering about this that Linus Pauling walked toward me after exiting the airport security gate.