Nobel awarded work. Second edition, fifth printing, uncommon in the dust jacket. Linus Pauling (1901-1994) is considered one of the most influential scientists of the twentieth century, and was awarded the 1954 Nobel Prize in Chemistry 'for his research into the nature of the chemical bond and its application to the elucidation of the structure of complex substances'.

'To better explain the nature of covalent bonding, in which electrons are shared between bonded atoms, Pauling formulated the groundbreaking concepts of resonance and hybridization, which in turn provided chemists with a more robust theoretical basis for predicting new compounds and chemical reactions' (Science History Institute biography).

The second edition incorporates new discoveries of the structures of 'a number of especially interesting molecules and crystals' (preface).

Second edition, fifth printing; 8vo; 4 integral plates; endpapers partially tanned, light spotting to the edges of the text block; original blue cloth, titles to spine gilt on black ground and to upper board in blind, a little light spotting of the cloth, in the toned jacket with darker tanning of the spine and edges and a spot on the upper wrapper, very good condition; 450pp.