I was introduced to chemistry as a freshman at Illinois Wesleyan University in 1911.  My uncle, who had been a high school teacher, advised me to take this subject if I expected to be a farmer; he felt the next generation of farmers was going to need scientific knowledge to get the most out of their work.  My professor in chemistry was a young Ph.D. from the University of Illinois named Alfred W. Homberger.  He was a pleasant person, much interested i chemistry and in his students, so I came into the field in a most friendly atmosphere.

     Professor Homberger, as an undergraduate at Wisconsin, had been taught by Professor Louis Kahlenberg, who was one of the last to admit that the ionic theory might be useful.  He transferred this attitude to this students, so even though Homberger taught the theory, he let us know that he wasn't too sure of its practicality.  He taught us mostly descriptive material with "mathematics" limited to problems of simple proportion.  The course was not difficult and I found the facts presented interesting.  The second semester lab part of the course was the old style of qualitative inorganic analysis.  Solving the unknowns was what I really liked.  Thus, my introduction to chemistry was fun, and it still continues to be.