On the other hand, a few eminent scientists, such as Linus Pauling and Max Perutz, were critical of the contribution of What Is Life? PAULING 1987 wrote, "When I first read this book, over 40 years ago, I was disappointed. It was, and still is, my opinion that Schrödinger made no contribution to our understanding of life." PERUTZ 1987 wrote, "Sadly, however, a close study of his book and of the related literature has shown me that what was true in his book was not original, and most of what was original was known not to be true even when the book was written ... the apparent contradictions between life and the statistical laws of physics can be resolved by invoking a science largely ignored by Schrödinger. That science is chemistry."