Topics discussed include: early life, childhood interests; undergraduate at Furman University, South Carolina; B.A., 1917, M.A., 1918; Johns Hopkins University, 1923; optics work at Cornell University, 1919, 1924, Ph.D., 1924; recollections and anecdotes on teaching, research and administrative duties at: University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, 1924-1941; University of Michigan, 1941-1945; National Bureau of Standards, 1945-1962; Florida State University, Tallahassee, 1962; comments on the personalities of Harrison Randall and William Coblentz; assessment of former and present students and evaluation of the nature of the educational process. Personal beliefs and satisfactions. Also prominently mentioned are: Nick Acquista, Jack Craven, Walter Gordy, John Howard, Elmer Samuel Imes, Earle Hesse Kennard, Samuel Pierpont Langley, A. Herman Pfund; and the National Science Foundation.