In these waning months ef Linus Pauling's centennial year, it seems appropriate to ask what kind of permanent mark the great man has left on the worldóalthough " marks" might be more appropriate for the activities of a man who changed his career focus every so often. Surely his contributions to chemistry will stand a hundred years from now, or a thousand, even if no one remembers his name: they are fundamental. His contributions to world peace may prove more evanescent. Smaller wars have persisted here and there because governments favor them, even though a pax Americana settled over the globe for a few years. (effective, but probably not Pauling's ideal of peace), the horrors of September 11 proved how fragile that really was.

Will Pauling's final questóto alleviate human suffering through orthomolecular medicine-attain the durability of his contributions to chemistry, and perhaps peace? That is the proper focus of a journal devoted to orthomolecular medicine, so I shall leave the bond angles, alpha helices, resonating electrons and pacifist initiatives to fend for themselves. Is " orthomolecular" a good idea? In the long run, will it matter to anybody?