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“ I am happy , ” said M . Waldman , “ to have gained a disciple ; and if your application equals your ability , I have no doubt of your success . Chemistry is that branch of natural philosophy in which the greatest improvements have been and may be made ; it is on that account that I have made it my peculiar study ; but at the same time , I have not neglected the other branches of science . A man would make but a very sorry chemist if he attended to that department of human knowledge alone . If your wish is to become really a man of science and not merely a petty experimentalist , I should advise you to apply to every branch of natural philosophy , including mathematics . ” He then took me into his laboratory and explained to me the uses of his various machines , instructing me as to what I ought to procure and promising me the use of his own when I should have advanced far enough in the science not to derange their mechanism . He also gave me the list of books which I had requested , and I took my leave . Thus ended a day memorable to me ; it decided my future destiny . Chapter 4 From this day natural philosophy , and particularly chemistry , in the most comprehensive sense of the term , became nearly my sole occupation . I read with ardour those works , so full of genius and discrimination , which modern inquirers have written on these subjects . I attended the lectures and cultivated the acquaintance of the men of science of the university , and I found even in M . Krempe a great deal of sound sense and real information , combined , it is true , with a repulsive physiognomy and manners , but not on that account the less valuable . In M . Waldman I found a true friend . His gentleness was never tinged by dogmatism , and his instructions were given with an air of frankness and good nature that banished every idea of pedantry . In a thousand ways he smoothed for me the path of knowledge and made the most abstruse inquiries clear and facile to my apprehension . My application was at first fluctuating and uncertain ; it gained strength as I proceeded and soon became so ardent and eager that the stars often disappeared in the light of morning whilst I was yet engaged in my laboratory . As I applied so closely , it may be easily conceived that my progress was rapid . My ardour was indeed the astonishment of the students , and my proficiency that of the masters . Professor Krempe often asked me , with a sly smile , how Cornelius Agrippa went on , whilst M . Waldman expressed the most heartfelt exultation in my progress . Two years passed in this manner , during which I paid no visit to Geneva , but was engaged , heart and soul , in the pursuit of some discoveries which I hoped to make . None but those who have experienced them can conceive of the enticements of science . In other studies you go as far as others have gone before you , and there is nothing more to know ; but in a scientific pursuit there is continual food for discovery and wonder .
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