How did Linus Pauling develop the electronegativity scale?

Linus Pauling developed the electronegativity scale in 1932 to quantify the ability of an atom to attract a shared electron pair within a chemical bond.21

He derived this scale by comparing the energies associated with chemical bonds between various combinations of atoms. By analyzing these bond energies, Pauling was able to tabulate the elements in decreasing order of electronegativity, identifying fluorine as the most electronegative element and cesium as the least.2

This scale remains a fundamental tool in chemistry, as it helps predict the nature of chemical bonds: elements with significant differences in electronegativity tend to form ionic compounds, while those with similar values form nonpolar compounds.2