How did Linus Pauling discover the alpha helix structure of proteins?

Linus Pauling discovered the alpha helix structure of proteins in 1948 while serving as a visiting professor at the University of Oxford.

Rather than relying solely on complex laboratory equipment, Pauling utilized a simple, creative method: he drew a chain of linked amino acids on a piece of paper and folded it. Through this process, he identified a stable, cylindrical, coil-like configuration. The most significant aspect of his discovery was the precise determination of the number of amino acids per turn of the helix, which is maintained by hydrogen bonds between the carbonyl and imino groups of neighboring turns.12