James Holmes Sturdivant

James Holmes Sturdivant (1906–1972) was a chemist who worked for several years as the main research assistant to Linus Pauling at Caltech, starting in 1927.[1][2][3][4][5][6][7] He co-authored some seminal papers with Pauling,[8][9][10][11] and was co-advisor of Robert Eugene Rundle.[12]

Personal history

James Sturdivant was born in Greenville, Texas, on June 22, 1906. He got is B. A. degree at the University of Texas in 1926, his M. A. in 1927, and his Ph. D. at Caltech in 1930, advised by Pauling.[13] By December 1954 he was living at the Athenaeum, 551 South Hill Avenue, Pasadena.[13]

Sturdivant died in Pasadena on April 21, 1972, at the age of 66, survived by his wife Arletta.[1]

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).[13] As a professor, he taught X-ray crystallography.[1]

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 mineral brookite, that led Pauling to develop his theory of coordination bonding.[8]

Another important result of their collaboration was the partial elucidation of the molecular structure of certain compounds discovered by Liebig in the 1830s, including melon, melem, cyameluric acid, and hydromelonic acid. They realized that those compounds had a common core with formula C
6N
7, consisting of three fused triazine rings, now known as the heptazine core.[9]

Among many other projects, Sturdivant helped Pauling to develop a device to measure the concentration of oxygen in gases.[10] 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.[14]

As manager of the Caltech instrument shop, Sturdivant helped Pauling and Corey build their prototypes of the space-filling molecular models.[15]

He was a member of the American Chemical Society, the American Physical Society, and the American Crystallographic Association.[1]

A lecture hall at Caltech is named "J. Holmes Sturdivant".[16]

References
  1. George Hammond (1972): "J. Holmes Sturdivant, 1906-1972". Obituary in Engineering and Science, volume 35 issue 6, page 29.
  2. OSU SCARC (2015): "Waves". Preface of an extensive website documentary on Linus Pauling. Quote: "[Pauling's] first 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.
  5. 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 detector based on hemoglobin. Accessed on 2020-05-10.
  6. 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.
  7. Chemistry-Biology Stock Company (1954): "Make First Approximations" Satyrical song, part of the event "The Road to Stockholm: The Appalling Life of Dr. Pauling" held at Caltech 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.
  8. Linus Pauling and J. H. Sturdivant (1928): "XV. The crystal structure of brookite". Zeitschrift für Kristallographie, volume 68, issue 1, pages 239-. doi:10.1524/zkri.1928.68.1.239
  9. 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. doi:10.1073/pnas.23.12.615
  10. 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.
  11. 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 PtBr+
    6    , PtCl+
    6    , Nb
    6    Cl+
    12    , Ta
    6    Br+
    12    , and Ta
    6    Cl+
    12    ". volume 72, issue 12, pages 5477-5486. doi:10.1021/ja01168a028
  12. 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.
  13. 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 extensive website documentary on Linus Pauling. 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.
  14. 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 extensive website documentary on Linus Pauling.
  15. 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.
  16. Caltech (2018): "Calendar - Spring 2018-2019". Online document at www.caltech.edu. Accessed on 2020-05-10.
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