Linus Pauling — "Science is the search for truth -- it is not a game in which one tries to beat h…"
Science is the search for truth -- it is not a game in which one tries to beat his opponent, to do harm to others.
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More from Linus Pauling
"I am not a quack. I am a scientist."
"Science is the search for truth, and engineering is the search for ways to make things work."
"I have always been a scientist, and I believe that science is the best way to understand the world."
"Every man of science has some favorite hypothesis which he cultivates, and with which he is so intimately bound up, that he would be glad to see it universally adopted."
"I have never had a bad idea."
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Understanding this quote
What it means
Science exists to uncover what is real—nothing more. Pauling draws a sharp line between honest inquiry and competitive combat. When researchers treat their work as a battle to win rather than a truth to find, they corrupt science's purpose. Knowledge gained through rivalry, deception, or a drive to outmaneuver others isn't science—it's politics or warfare in a lab coat. The goal must always be understanding, never victory over an opponent.
Relevance to Linus Pauling
Pauling won Nobel Prizes in both Chemistry (1954) and Peace (1962)—the only person to win two unshared Nobels. He watched his molecular research feed weapons programs during World War II and the Cold War. His public campaign against nuclear testing, co-founding of the Pugwash movement, and refusal to sign loyalty oaths all reflected a scientist who believed truth-seeking and protecting human life were inseparable obligations, not competing priorities.
The era
Pauling spoke during the Cold War, when the U.S. and Soviet Union turned science into an arms race—nuclear physics producing bombs capable of ending civilization. The Manhattan Project proved scientific discovery could be weaponized at industrial scale. McCarthyism branded peace-minded scientists as subversives. Sputnik in 1957 reframed research as national competition. Against this backdrop, insisting science must serve truth rather than political dominance or military advantage was both radical and urgent.
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