James Holmes Sturdivant (1906–1972) was a chemist who worked for several years as the main research assistant to

Linus Pauling Linus Carl Pauling (; February 28, 1901August 19, 1994) was an American chemist, biochemist, chemical engineer, peace activist, author, and educator. He published more than 1,200 papers and books, of which about 850 dealt with scientific top ...

Caltech The California Institute of Technology (branded as Caltech or CIT)The university itself only spells its short form as "Caltech"; the institution considers other spellings such a"Cal Tech" and "CalTech" incorrect. The institute is also occasional ...

, starting in 1927. He co-authored some seminal papers with Pauling, and was co-advisor of Robert Eugene Rundle.

Personal history

James Sturdivant was born in Greenville,

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

, on June 22, 1906. He got is

B. A. Bachelor of arts (BA or AB; from the Latin ', ', or ') is a bachelor's degree awarded for an undergraduate program in the arts, or, in some cases, other disciplines. A Bachelor of Arts degree course is generally completed in three or four years ...

degree at the

University of Texas The University of Texas at Austin (UT Austin, UT, or Texas) is a public research university in Austin, Texas. It was founded in 1883 and is the oldest institution in the University of Texas System. With 40,916 undergraduate students, 11,075 ...

in 1926, his

M. A. A Master of Arts ( la, Magister Artium or ''Artium Magister''; abbreviated MA, M.A., AM, or A.M.) is the holder of a master's degree awarded by universities in many countries. The degree is usually contrasted with that of Master of Science. Tho ...

in 1927, and his Ph. D. at Caltech in 1930, advised by Pauling. By December 1954 he was living at the Athenaeum, 551 South Hill Avenue,

Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial district. Its ...

. Sturdivant died in Pasadena on April 21, 1972, at the age of 66, survived by his wife Arletta.

Work

He was instructor in Mathematics at the University of Texas from 1926 to 1927. At Caltech, he held position of Teaching Fellow (1927-1930), Research Fellow (1930-1935), Senior Fellow in Research (1935-1938), and Assistant Professor (since 1938). As a professor, he taught

X-ray crystallography X-ray crystallography is the experimental science determining the atomic and molecular structure of a crystal, in which the crystalline structure causes a beam of incident X-rays to diffract into many specific directions. By measuring the angles ...

. One of the first results of the collaboration with Pauling, soon after is hiring in 1927, was the elucidation of the structure of the

titanium Titanium is a chemical element with the symbol Ti and atomic number 22. Found in nature only as an oxide, it can be reduced to produce a lustrous transition metal with a silver color, low density, and high strength, resistant to corrosion in ...

mineral

brookite Brookite is the orthorhombic variant of titanium dioxide (TiO2), which occurs in four known natural polymorphic forms (minerals with the same composition but different structure). The other three of these forms are akaogiite (monoclinic), anatas ...

, that led Pauling to develop his theory of

coordination bond In coordination chemistry, a coordinate covalent bond, also known as a dative bond, dipolar bond, or coordinate bond is a kind of two-center, two-electron covalent bond in which the two electrons derive from the same atom. The bonding of metal io ...

ing. Another important result of their collaboration was the partial elucidation of the molecular structure of certain compounds discovered by

Liebig Justus Freiherr von Liebig (12 May 1803 – 20 April 1873) was a German scientist who made major contributions to agricultural and biological chemistry, and is considered one of the principal founders of organic chemistry. As a professor at the ...

in the 1830s, including

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

melem In chemistry, melem is a compound with formula ; specifically, 2,5,8-triamino-heptazine or 2,5,8-triamino-tri-''s''-triazine, whose molecule can be described as that of heptazine with the three hydrogen atoms replaced by amino groups. It is a whit ...

, cyameluric acid, and hydromelonic acid. They realized that those compounds had a common core with formula , consisting of three fused

triazine Triazines are a class of nitrogen-containing heterocycles. The parent molecules' molecular formula is . They exist in three isomeric forms, 1,3,5-triazines being common. Structure The triazines have planar six-membered benzene-like ring but ...

rings, now known as the

heptazine Heptazine, or tri-''s''-triazine or cyamelurine, is a chemical compound with formula , that consist of a planar triangular core group or three fused triazine rings, with three hydrogen atoms at the corners. It is a yellow, weakly fluorescent soli ...

core. Among many other projects, Sturdivant helped Pauling to develop a device to measure the concentration of oxygen in gases. The patent for the device was assigned to the two and to Reuben Wood, and was donated to the on condition that the authors receive a fraction of any revenue coming from it. As manager of the Caltech instrument shop, Sturdivant helped Pauling and Corey build their prototypes of the space-filling molecular models. He was a member of the

American Chemical Society The American Chemical Society (ACS) is a scientific society based in the United States that supports scientific inquiry in the field of chemistry. Founded in 1876 at New York University, the ACS currently has more than 155,000 members at all d ...

, the

American Physical Society The American Physical Society (APS) is a not-for-profit membership organization of professionals in physics and related disciplines, comprising nearly fifty divisions, sections, and other units. Its mission is the advancement and diffusion of k ...

, and the

American Crystallographic Association The American Crystallographic Association, Inc. (ACA) is a non-profit, scientific organization for scientists who study the structure of matter via crystallographic methodologies. Since its founding in 1949 it has amassed over 2000 members worldwi ...

. A lecture hall at Caltech is named "J. Holmes Sturdivant".

References

Vera V. Mainz and Gregory S. Girolami (1998):
Genealogy Database Entry: Rundle, Robert Eugene
.
Chemical Genealogy
' website, University of Illinois School of Chemistry. Accessed on 2020-05-10. OSU SCARC (2018):
Chairing the Division After the War: Organizing the Peace
. ''Paulingblog'' website, posted on 2018-05-08. Mentions Sturdivant's role in an administrative dispute with another lab. Accessed on 2020-05-10. OSU SCARC (2014):
The Story of “The Nature of the Chemical Bond”: Coordinating Research & Funding
. ''Paulingblog'' website, posted on 2014-07-22. Reports the hiring of Sturdivant in 1927 and new funding source in 1932. Includes a photo of Sturdivant in 1948. Accessed on 2020-05-10. OSU SCARC (2010):
The Business of Detection
''Paulingblog'' website, posted on 2010-11-30. Describes Pauling and Sturdivant's unsuccessful attempt, between 1941 and 1943, to develop a

carbon monoxide Carbon monoxide (chemical formula CO) is a colorless, poisonous, odorless, tasteless, flammable gas that is slightly less dense than air. Carbon monoxide consists of one carbon atom and one oxygen atom connected by a triple bond. It is the simple ...

detector based on

hemoglobin Hemoglobin (haemoglobin BrE) (from the Greek word αἷμα, ''haîma'' 'blood' + Latin ''globus'' 'ball, sphere' + ''-in'') (), abbreviated Hb or Hgb, is the iron-containing oxygen-transport metalloprotein present in red blood cells (erythrocyte ...

. Accessed on 2020-05-10. OSU SCARC (2018):
The Crystal Structure of Brookite
. ''Paulingblog'' website, posted on 2010-01-12. Describes the research by Pauling and Sturdivant in 1927 on the structure of brookite. Includes a photo of Sturdivant in 1948. Accessed on 2020-05-10. Chemistry-Biology Stock Company (1954):

Satyrical song, part of the event

held at

on 1954-12-03. Available in the website
Linus Pauling and The Nature of the Chemical Bond: A Documentary History
', by the Special Collections & Archives Research Center (SCARC), The Valley Library, Oregon State University. Chorus line: "Strive to save department money / And watch Holmes Sturdivant smile." Accessed on 2020-05-10. OSU SCARC (2015):

. Preface of an extensiv

Quote: " auling'sfirst office was nothing more than a desk in the corner of the x-ray lab, from which he could directly oversee the activities of his first official graduate student, a diligent young chemist fresh from Texas named J. Holmes Sturdivant". Accessed on 2020-05-10. Linus Pauling (1941):
Letter to Dr. Harris M. Chadwell, National Defense Research Committee
, dated April 18, 1941. Filed under LP Science: Assorted LP War Work, 1940-1946: Box #13.006 Folder #6.1, SCARC, Oregon State University. Available in an extensiv

Quote: "Professor Sturdivant, an American-borne citizen who took his Ph.D. with me in 1930 and has continued as a member of our department since then, is a very gifted man, with ability in the field of instrumental design as well as along general scientific lines. He has designed all of our x-ray apparatus built in recent years. In addition he is in charge of the chemistry department instrument shop here. Dr. Sturdivant is thoroughly familiar with the details of construction and operation of the oxygen instrument, and would be the best possible man with whom to discuss the possibilities of application of the instrument in various ways and of its special design for special purposes. ..I have full confidence in his loyalty to the United States. I have known Professor Sturdivant intimately for fourteen years." Accessed on 2020-05-10. Linus Pauling (1942):
Handwritten note from LP to the Gentlemen of the California Institute Research Foundation
, dated May 12, 1942. Archived in the LP Safe: Drawer 1, Folder 1.031. SCARC, Oregon State University. Available in an extensiv

Linus Pauling, Reuben E. Wood, and J. H. Sturdivant (1946): "An Instrument for Determining the Partial Pressure of Oxygen in a Gas". ''Journal of the American Chemical Society'', volume 68, pages 795-798. Robert B. Corey and Linus Pauling (1953): "Molecular Models of Amino Acids, Peptides, and Proteins", ''The Review of Scientific Instruments'', volume 24, issue 8, pages 621-627. Linus Pauling and J. H. Sturdivant (1937): "The Structure of Cyameluric Acid, Hydromelonic Acid and Related Substances". ''Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences'', volume 23, issue 12, page 615–620. Caltech (2018):
Calendar - Spring 2018-2019
. Online document at www.caltech.edu. Accessed on 2020-05-10. Philip A. Vaughan, J. H. Sturdivant, and Linus Pauling (1950): "The Determination of the Structures of Complex Molecules and Ions from X-Ray Diffraction by Their Solutions: The Structures of the Groups , , , , and ". volume 72, issue 12, pages 5477-5486. Linus Pauling and J. H. Sturdivant (1928): "XV. The crystal structure of brookite". ''Zeitschrift für Kristallographie'', volume 68, issue 1, pages 239-. George Hammond (1972):
J. Holmes Sturdivant, 1906-1972
. Obituary in ''Engineering and Science'', volume 35 issue 6, page 29. {{DEFAULTSORT:Sturdivant, James Holmes 1906 births 1972 deaths